The Cat's Meow
by Onomatopoeiafloon
Summary: Wally's turned into a cat after angering a rather witchy woman, and Numbuh 3 won't stop cuddling him! Will he ever be able to turn back to normal? Does he even want to? 3/4, 2/5 aaand rated T for language and violence :3 FINISHED!
1. What the Crud?

_Summary;_

_Wallabee Beetles isn't exactly known throughout the Kids Next Door for tact. When he angers a mysterious old woman a curse is put upon him, which he laughs at of course. Until, that is, he wakes up and finds he's not a boy anymore but a cat. Not only that but Kuki thinks he's a pet! 3/4_

_DISCLAIMER; Own it I do not._

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_Chapter 1- What the Crud!?_

The street was almost completely empty, except for the ten year old boy sitting on a bench. One might not have believed his age at first glance, for he was terribly short for his age. It didn't help that his pants were baggy, or that the bright orange sweater he wore was a few sizes too big. He probably thought it made him look taller, when really it somehow served to make him tinier than before. Blonde hair hung in his green eyes, eyes that were often narrowed in irritation or looking a little blank with confusion. He was Wallabee Beetles, an agent of a secret organization of children called the Kids Next Door. His codename? Numbuh Four, and it wasn't a name that was unknown among the higher ups because of his agressive behaviors.

At the moment he was completely and totally pissed off. Though, as he was still a rather young boy, he probably wouldn't have worded it that way. He was agressive but still had a child-like innocence to him. His favorite swear word happened to be "crud" not too high on the dirty words scale, but it worked for most every irritating situation. Like now. " 'Ah can't believe this! Cruddy dad makin' me cruddy wait for a cruddy old lady..."

The young boy was, in fact, forced to stay behind because his father had noticed while driving him from practice(he was rather athletic, and was actually taking karate lessons) one day that an elderly woman was forced to cross the road on her lonesome. Wallabee, who hardly trusted his own father since he was an adult, could honestly care less. When he voiced this opinion his father unceremoniously dumped him from the car straight after school (no karate lessons!?) and drove off saying he couldn't return home unless he walked the lady.

He considered, for a brief moment, ignoring this and going to his treehouse. He could take his father LITERALLY and NEVER come home, but he didn't think that would be a good idea. Besides, getting grounded wasn't something he wanted to do. How embarassing, a Kids Next Door operative getting stuck in his house? Aw, no thanks.

"Oh, hello there young man." Wally jumped in surprise, and started blankly at the woman who was in front of him. When had she? Still, he had an instant dislike for her. Many adults weren't attractive, but this one...

She was hunched over, and her nose was incredibly long. It reminded Wally of some bad lady off of a movie or something he'd watched with Numbuh Three. Something about the Wizard of It or something. Either way, she reminded him uncomfortably of said green villianess. It didn't help that here eyes were all watery and slightly red, maybe she'd been crying he didn't much care. From far away she'd seemed like a sweet old lady wearing a cardigan sweater, up close he realized that sweater was a long-slived shirt that had probably been white once. Ew...

"Aww, crud." Wally said quietly, the woman's eyes glittered angrily at the words. If he hadn't been a professional adult fighter he wouldn't have been able to dodge the open-handed slap she sent towards his face. Even though she missed terribly, and stumbled after the fact, Wally found his mouth hanging open in surprise, "What the? What was that for? 'Ah didn't do nothin' to ya lady!"

"Swearing is bad child." the woman rasped, Wally tipped his head to the side in disbelief. Sure he thought of it as a word to relieve stress but did 'crud' really qualify as a dirty word? Apparently so, because before he could react she had lifted her other hand and smacked him hard on the head with her umbrella. "Now help me cross the street!"

"Loike I'd evuh do that!" Wally spat, holding his no throbbing head and feeling a flash of resentment at his father. He could be having karate practice right now but noooo, he had to face this hag.

"Respect thy elders." She tsked, Wally decided this was definitely one of those adults that kids just couldn't trust. The people who weren't like his (yes, annoying but still) dad, or even the other parents that his friends belonged too. (Belonged too? What are they pets?) He glared at her, and from seemingly nowhere (really the pocket in his hoodie) he drew out a S.P.L.A.N.K.E.R. and pulled it's trigger.

The result was the flipping of a hard wooden board that slammed forcefully into the womans outstretched hand (the one holding the umbrella). Wally let out a cry of triumph as she dropped it, but yelped with surprise as with a strange surge of strength the woman hauled him into the air by his hood! Wally dangled there, completely helpless thanks to his short size, and swinging rather wildly at this new opponent.

"A curse..." She hissed in his face, Wally gagged which made her ever the more angry. _Well lady did ya ever think to brush your teeth before picking children up off the street and shoving them in your face? _"A curse, I place it on thee. Lives you shall have nine, unrecognizable you'll find. Soft and cuddly, with fur and claws. A little pet, with tail and paws."

Before he could react she dropped him heavily on the concrete and bussled off. Wally watched her in open mouthed surprise before standing up. "Roight lady, you're cruddy cuuuurse didn't work!" Wally laughed after her, she only made a rather rude gesture that totally contradicted her belief that one shouldn't swear, and continued to waddle off while chuckling to herself. Wally proceeded to stick his tongue out and decided that he would go to the treehouse. His father couldn't say he didn't try.

That's when it started. A strange tingling feeling that felt almost pleasant at first but started to hurt. Bad. His ears were ringing, and he staggered a bit so that his knees struck the hard ground. "What the crud?" Wally murmured, his head was spinning so badly that he felt he was going to be sick. That ringing in his ears, it was getting louder. The tingling was more like stabbing pains, and Wally clutched his head and moaned before he passed out cold on the concrete.

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"Ooooow..." Wally moaned, he opened his eyes and peered around him. Dear reader I shall describe this in a way that will let you realize his process first, for you would instantly see what Wally did not otherwise. A canopy of orange surrounded him, and he felt terribly hot, and squished. Definitely squished. With a cry of alarm the young...erm, australian, managed to free himself of the strange opressive orange fabric.

Confusion flashed in his green eyes as he stared down at it and lifted his paw towards it. It was a hoodie. _Waaait a minute, PAW? WHAT!?_ Utter shock flashed through his eyes, and he spun around until he found a shiny metal thing on the ground. (He had no clue what it was himself, and neither does the author, just something random and shiny) What he saw both angered him (for he is an agressive child) and made him (though he'd rather not admit it) terribly afraid.

He was a cat. Yes, a cat. Small mammal with fluffy fur (usually) and whiskers and a tail. Wally looked around and spotted the latter lashing the air behind him. He wouldn't admit it himself, but he was really rather cute. A small cat, definitely not full grown but not quite a kitten either. His fur was fluffed up at the moment, a pale yellow color like his hair. Orange stripes that reminded him of his hoody criss-crossed in a tabby pattern through-out his pelt, and his eyes were emerald green. His muzzle was white, and so were his two front paws. Wallabee Beetles was a cute and cuddly little kitten.

"Oh...crud." Well, it was a start, at least he wasn't sitting on the sidewalk with his mouth hanging open like a total and complete moron. Wally hissed in fury and looked around, "Alroight you cruddy lady! Get out 'ere so I can beat the crud outta ya!? Erm...claw the crud outta ya!? JUST CHANGE ME BACK!"

Suddenly a sound that shook him to his paws rang in his ears. Wally spun around with surprise and hissed in fear. A huge dog, MASSIVE was a better word, came bounding towards him. It's tongue lolled, it's fangs glinted. Wally's yowling had certainly attracted it's attention. For a moment the newly changed feline just stood in frozen horror. Then anger. Cruddy dog, running at HIM? Wally hissed and took off in the direction the poor mutt was coming at him. This seemed to startle the creature, for you see most cats RAN when they were barked at. He'd never really had one try and attack him.

Unfortunately for Wally he was new to the whole cat's-walk-on-four-legs-not-two thing. He ate concrete about two pawsteps away from the beast and sat up feeling dazed. The dog, no longer finding the fact that his prey was stupid enough to run at him amusing, was on him in a flash. Surprise coarsed through him as the dog's teeth met his scruff and he was hauled in the air.

"Let meh go ya cruddy mutt!" Wally hissed, flailing his paws about and forgetting the key factor of unsheathing his claws to actually cause damage. Note taken, he slashed again, this time his claws bit deep into the soft muzzle of the dog. It howled with fury and dropped him like a hot potato...or a cat that had just dug it's claws painfull into it's mouth. Wally landed on his paws with a triumphant laugh, and faced the dog.

Now, most people would be smart enough to run away. After all, the dog was much bigger than Wally. One of those Blood Hounds. It. Was. Pissed. Wally swore on his comic book collection that the dog's eyes flashed red for a moment. It's baying shook the very earth under his paws (hyperbole, not literally) and it sprang for him.

Wally braced himself, and at the last instant was rescued (though he was absolutely irritated about this, being the fighter he was) as a young woman grabbed the dogs collar and hauled it away. Wally stomped up and down the sidewalk with his tail held high. _That'll teach ya ya dumb mutt! Don' mess with meh!"_

Wally paused and looked around feeling suddenly very alone and...afraid. Even though he'd never say that much aloud the poor kid was terrified. Wouldn't you be? Being turned into an animal was a pretty scary experience, not to mention being attacked by some crazy mutt almost afterwards! "What should 'Ah do?"

After a moment he decided. He'd go find that cruddy lady that did this to him! Only...he didn't exactly know how. Right, TO THE TREEHOUSE! The firm decision made him feel a little better as he marched down the sidewalk towards his other home. The treehouse, it was his favorite place to be in the whole world. Surely his friends would be able to help...

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_**Sorry, I know the chapter wasn't long but it's the best point to leave off at this moment. Hope you enjoyed it, please read and review! Oh, and by the way, if you're looking for a really good KND fic that's already finished check out Killing Me Slowly and Three's a Crowd by Mazzix..Mazzy...something like that :3, it's in my favorites. Very good fiction, those stories. A bit dark though. -rambles-**_

**_Mmm, note, the 'Ah is "I" with an Australian accent XP_**


	2. KITTY!

_Don't Own It_

_Wish I did..._

_Guess I own the plot though :3_

_Meow_

**_Awwwz, you guys are so awesome! -cuddles reviewers- Thank you very much all of you! :3_**

**_Laurie43- XP Yeah, I guess turning into a cat overloaded his little circuits. Poor Wally XP_**

**_Starcatrose- Me too! Waaait, doesn't it say I'm a werecat? :3_**

**_sstoons3452- XP Thank you. I've seen tons with people turning into wolves and was sitting here with KND on the brain when I saw my cat and...this randomly flew into my head. _**

**_imasmurf- THANKS! -hands next chapter-_**

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_Chapter Two- KITTY!!_

Wally stared up at the treehouse. Usually it was a little big. Okay, really big usually. Now that he wasn't even a foot tall the thing seemed that much more enormous. His tail tip twitched a little as he walked confidently forward. Who cared how big the cruddy thing was? He was going to get out of this mess no matter what.

The cat froze at the door. He wouldn't exactly be able to get in that way. A cat couldn't ring the doorbell (something he'd figured out after many jumps, it hadn't even occurred to him that Nigel's parents wouldn't exactly let a little cat that had mysteriously rung their doorbell inside) and he couldn't open a window either. So it was route two, climb the tree.

"Hey, 'Ah'm a cat roight? Cats cloimb tree's all the toime." Wally said, giving himself enough confidence. First was getting on the roof, which was surprisingly easy. He had the walking thing down, and he was surprised by how easy it was to balance with a tail. He landed rather gracefully on the roof and let out a yowl of triumph that set the birds into the air. Snickering to himself he dug his claws into the sturdy bark of the tree and began to climb.

It wasn't long until he felt tired, and the branches were still miles above him! (so it seemed, hey, it's a pretty big tree!) Even he, who was thankfully a pretty strong cat, found himself shaking with exhaustion after awhile. He grit his teeth stubbornly and continued to haul himself up. "Aw, crud, come on 'Ah can do it!"

Suddenly the whole treehouse was shaking under his paws! Wally yowled in terror and peered around only to spot his most hated enemies in the world slamming some gargantuan robot against the treehouse! "Deloightful Dorks!" Wally hissed, and clambered to the spot where they were.

"Kids Next Door! Battle Stations!" Number One yelled, Wally felt a stab of guilt. What use was he like this? He stared at the leg of the robot irritable, wishing there was something he could do. Claws didn't exactly work on metal. So instead he hissed at it, and clung to the bark for dear life as they slammed their robot once more into the tree.

"It's no use!" Somehow the DCFDTL (name too long for lazy author to spell out) sounded excited and monotonous at the same exact time, "You rotten kids will finally fall!"

"That's what you think!" Numbuh Five yelled as she dropped from above onto the other robot arm. She had a massive mallet in her hand, no special weapon or anything like that. Just a mallet. She swung and hit the leg hard enough to make the robot tremble. The metallic gears shattered and the robot tumbled. "Timbeeer!"

"Noooo!" The DCFDTL cried, and unfortunately for Wally they grabbed onto the trunk right above his head. A startled yowl escaped his maw as he fell into the mass of children. They all cried out in surprise (monotonously enough) and Wally's instant reaction was to spit and claw at them. "Ow! No! Ah, get it off! Vermin!"

"Vermin!? OI! 'Ah don' think so Deloightful Dorks!" Wally screeched furiously, and bit the hand of Lenny. He cried out and began shaking him very hard. The world spun, and Wally lost his hold on the tall boy. He was sent soaring towards the ground. His green eyes closed in expectancy for his death. Surely he would die if he hit the ground right? But then he felt reassuring arms around him, and found himself staring into big yellow goggles! "Numbuh Two!"

"Wow, brave kitty." his friend said, Wally looked up to the fighting to see Numbuh's One and Five dealing two roundhouse kicks to the top of the robot. Numbuh Three had managed to tie some string around it's remaining three legs and the robot fell off the treehouse (luckily it missed Nigel's home) and exploded impressively on the ground. The DCFDTL were shot into the sky, much the same way as Team Rocket from that Poke'mon show.

"Awesome!" Wally yowled, Numbuh Two had flown up to the treehouse and they were on the balcony now. Numbuh's One, Five, and Three soon joined them as well. Wally felt a wave of relief that none of his friends were hurt. Hey, he was a tough-guy but he still cared about his friends!

Numbuh One, Nigel, was a good deal taller than him normally. He was also the only person whose order's Wally followed USUALLY without question. Hey, he was the leader of the team and usually knew what he was doing! That didn't mean the hot-headed Australian would sometimes argue with him. The young boy was completely bald, and he wore khaki shorts and a red shirt. Oh, and there was the traditional sunglasses he wore as well. It somehow tied in the whole 'leader' look for him.

Numbuh Two, Hoagie, who was still holding Wally, was, admittedly, over-weight. By quite a bit. His good friend resembled a ball actually, with arms and legs. The main piece of his outfit was the flyer's cap that he wore, along with his goggles. Which suited him well, since he was the person who invented anything that took off in the air in this sector. He was really smart, and could work with 2x4 technology like no other. Though he wasn't too bright with social things, Wally trusted his good friend with most everything. Also, despite his size, he was a good person to have on ones side.

Numbuh Three, Kuki, was the medical assistant in Sector V. She was of Japanese descent, with violet eyes that were almost always sparkling with pure joy and long raven colored hair. Her child-like manner covered up her violent temper (Wally knew a thing or two about that temper. Note to anybody interested out there; Do NOT underestimate Kuki Sanban) but she was probably the most naive of the group. She seemed to enjoy fun the most, and Wally never saw her out of that green jumpsuit, which was too big for her. Yet something was cute about the way her hands were always covered by the sleeves...

_Wait cute? _Wally thought to himself dizzily.

Numbuh Five, Abby, was the other girl of the group. Sometimes Wally wondered why she wasn't leader, when Numbuh One freaked out it was always her who seemed to pick him up and calm him down. She was definitely the most level-headed of the group, and a not quite a tom-boy but somewhere inbetween. She was the unmovable one, and the team relied on her because of her unfailing confidence.

All were his friends, his team-mates. Yet now they were looking at him with no recognition whatsoever! Oh, right, he'd been turned into a cat. Wally felt his heart sink. Somehow he had thought that his friends would be able to recognize him, even like this. "Come on guys!" Wally meowed plaintively, "It's meh!"

"What is that?" Numbuh Five said, poking at Wally with a raised eyebrow. Wally shot her an indignant look. Still, she wasn't disgusted, just mildly curious.

"KITTY!" Numbuh Three scooped him up before he could even think to react. He was suddenly uncomfortable crushed in a grip that made it particularly hard to breathe. Numbuh Two laughed a little nervously, "Awwww, he's so cute!"

"He's what distracted the Delightful Children for awhile!" Numbuh Two pointed out. Both Numbuh Five and Numbuh One looked at him in surprise, and disbelief. They stared down at him a moment in confusion but Numbuh Five suddenly nodded her head.

"Yeah, I think Numbuh Two's right!" She pointed out, "Remember they were yellin' about vermin or something."

"Mmmm..." Numbuh One said, reguarding Wally curiously. Hope filled him, did his friend recognize something about him? No, obviously not, "Well, what are we going to do with it?"

This was immediately answered by Numbuh Three, whose death-grip had loosened slightly. She sprang up, "Can we keep him! PLEAAAAAAAASE?" She held Wally in front of her face and he felt his ears flatten against his skull at the irritation of this. Numbuh Three seemed unperterbed by this, and waggled Wally a bit until Numbuh Two jumped in.

"Yeah come on Numbuh One! He's so cool, and he helped us defeat the Delightful Children From Down the Lane!" Wally glanced at his friend, surprised by the strange compassion in his voice, "We can't just kick it out on the street."

"He's right Numbuh One, technically we owe it too the little guy." Numbuh Five said and Wally's hiss of fury was cut off as Numbuh Three resumed her cuddling death-grip on him. So instead of a hiss he managed to gasp out in irritation, and his tail twitched irritably.

"Welll..." Numbuh One sighed, "I guess I'm beaten. Fine, he can stay. But keep him away from the hamsters Numbuh Three, the last thing we need is a cat eating our power supply."

"Oi, that's disgusting!" Wally said to this, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head. He realized that Numbuh Three was flipping him over onto his back and she was gently cuddling him. Wally was extremely glad for his fur suddenly, because he felt his face heat-up like no other. His ears were burning as she rubbed her nose against his, and he blinked his green eyes utterly perplexed by this change in events. "Wha-wha?"

"What are we going to name him?" Numbuh Five said, Wally started in surprise as she started to pet him gently on the head. _'Ey that feels gooooood..._ Wally thought. It did, strangely so, and he felt himself relax in Numbuh Three's arms. Still, he tensed up almost immediately when Numbuh Three squealed excitedly.

"How about Mr. Waddlyfuzzycoo!?" She squealed, Wallabee Beetles flattened his ears and shook his head. No, no, and a kajillion other NO's. He was NOT going to walk around the treehouse being called Mr. Waddlyfuzzycoo. NEVER. Over his dead body. He'd run into the middle of the street and get hit by a car first.

"I don't think he likes that." Numbuh One said, sounding incredibly amused. Wally saw disappointment in Numbuh Three's eyes, and felt a strange pang for it. Whatever, didn't matter. Because Numbuh Two was offering the PERFECT name for a tough cat!

"How about Tiger?" Numbuh Two said, Wally meowed in wholehearted agreement with this, and Numbuh Three patted him gently on the head. Numbuh Five seemed to be in agreement, and Numbuh One nodded. "Alright, sweet, Tiger it is!"

"Tiger..." Numbuh Three cooed, cuddling him again. Wally felt a wave of embarassment, but a strange flash of happiness too. Still, worry clung to him like his new pelt. How was he going to get back to normal? His friends didn't recognize him, which meant he was on his own.

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Wally felt a flash of relief at the feeling of wood underpaw. Numbuh Three had been holding him and giving him a totally un-needed tour of the treehouse. Still, she finally let him go after Numbuh Five explained that if kitties were held too long they got sick. Now he was running for the treehouse looking for SOME way to convey that he was Numbuh Four, and not some stupid cat!

"Crud!" Wally hissed, it was his fourth attempt to use Cd's to spell out the number four. This wasn't working so great as...well, he was having a hard time alphabatizing them. He screwed his green eyes shut and sighed heavily in defeat. Suddenly he felt himself being hauled up by his scruff, " 'Ey!"

"Bad Tiger." Numbuh Five said, "No, don't mess with my stuff or I'll make sure you're tail ends up out the door, got it?" She seemed stern, but after a moment melted and started to pet him gently after setting him down, "Just stay out of Numbuh Five's room, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Wally replied, even though he knew his friend could only hear meowing. He padded down the hallway and before he could even NOTICE her Numbuh Three had scooped him in her arms once more. "Woah! 'Ey, Numbuh Three!? What?"

"Hey there Kitty!" Numbuh Three said, rubbing her cheek against his. Wally felt another blush rise under his pale blonde fur, and made his green eyes drift to the wall. She carried him...into her cruddy girly room! YUCK! Wally seriously considered scratching up some of the Rainbow Monkeys. Hey, they're CREEPY, with their frozen wide smiles. "This is my room!"

" 'Ah can see that..." Wally meowed at her, squirming to be let go. She plopped him onto her bed, and started to pet him gently. For a moment he tensed up, then relaxed. He was surprised when a rumbling sound leaked out, and he jumped as it startled him quite a bit. He was...purring?

"Awww, you're sooo cute!" Numbuh Three said, she looked around suddenly and pouted. "I wish Numbuh Four was here to see you! I bet he'd like you, since you're a tough-kitty!"

Now perhaps you have never realized this, dear reader, but it is terribly irritating being told something like this when you are, in fact, there. Not only did Wally find it frustrating, he was a little hurt as well. Part of him relied on the fact that his friends would recognize him no matter how he looked. So he lashed his tail in rage and hissed at her in frustration. Numbuh Three's eyes widened with surprise as he jumped away and ran down the hall.

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"Brilliant." Wally mumbled, because after he had run away and hid himself under the coach he had heard Numbuh Three burst into the living room in tears. She was sitting on the coach and sobbing her heart out. Wally tipped his head to one side, feeling utterly perplexed at this situation.

"What is it Numbuh Three?" Numbuh Five said, Wally pressed himself harder against the floor, their voices were right above his head and it made him nervous.

"I-I-I..." Numbuh Three choked on a sob and burst into more tears. (he thought) "I think I made Tiger run awaaaay, I-I wouldn't s-stop holding h-him and he got mad and r-ran off and no-now I c-can't find hiiiim!"

Wally felt a stab of guilt. That wasn't why he'd run off, but it was still his fault Numbuh Three was sobbing so badly now. He struggled with his conscience for a moment while Numbuh Five comforted her friend. Wally, feeling more miserable with every passing second, shoved his muzzle under his paws. The sobs refused to subside. With a reluctant sigh the young boy turned into a cat squirmed from under the coach and jumped onto Numbuh Three's lap. " 'Ey, stop alroight? I'm roight here."

"T-Tiger!" Numbuh Three said, scooping him up and remembering at the last second to be gentle as she cuddled him, "He's okay Numbuh Five! YAY!"

"Numbuh Five isn't surprised." The girl replied with a small smile, she walked away and left Wally in Numbuh Three's arms. He would stay this way, he just didn't want her to cry anymore.

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_**Awwz, isn't that cuuute? I love Wally. XP You don' wanna make Numbuh Three cry. :3 **_

_**R&R much appreciated thanks.**_

_**Mmmmm...**_

_**Cookies...**_

_**Yeah, random. XP**_

_**I don' know what else to say! Read the next chapter, and if it's not there yet WAIT for it or something, stop reading down here sheesh.**_

**_Lawl, it'll be there SOON actually, since I'm on the tail-end of chapter three already. :3_**


	3. Night Adventures

_Disclaimer; If I owned it then this would be some amusing episodes. :3_

_Behemoth is mine. DON'T STEAL HIM! -cuddles-_

_So is Scythe..._

_Well, pretty much any random character you all DON'T recognize, is mine...so...yeah_

**_Mmm, the chapters are probably going to stay around this size. _**

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_Chapter Three- Night Adventures_

Wally pushed his way out the window and found a way down easier than he expected. He stopped on the roof, panting and stared off into the distance. Clearly his original plan hadn't worked. At all. He still felt a sting of resentment that his friends didn't realize it was him. Not only THAT but Kuki was the only one who even mentioned the fact that he was gone. (Notice that it's Kuki and not Numbuh Three anymore :3)

He paused, he was definitely getting used to this cat thing. Still, he didn't want to be a cat forever. He was going to find that old woman, beat the crud outta her, and get back to being Wallabee Beetles, Numbuh Four, HUMAN. He landed in the grass and almost jumped three feet when the voice sounded beside him.

"Interesting, you smell like a human but look like a cat." The purring voice ahead of him said. Wally snarled and lashed his tail as a H-U-G-E brown tabby tom cat padded out in front of him. He was WAAAAY older and, as forementioned, quite large. His eyes were yellow, and twinkling with amusement. "Whatchya doin' in these parts kid?"

"None ya business!" Hey, the cat was full-grown, thus the feline equivalent to an adult. Wally, of course, instantly disliked him for this. The cat tipped his head to the side, yellow eyes narrowed in interest.

"What an accent." He purred, "I'm Behemoth, nice to meet you kiddo."

"Whatevuh." Was Wally's gracious reply. He started to pad passed him, but the big cat followed like a massive shadow.

"Those kids in that treehouse, do you live with them? They're awfully loud, but I think they're nice. The one in the green pelt pet me the other day, and gave me a tid-bit. I loooove tidbits. Being a traveller makes it hard to get tid-bits some times. Do you like treats? Hey, kid, where are you going? Are you running away?" Behemoth had stopped behind him, and Wally twitched his tail as he looked at him. This cat didn't seem like any grown-up he'd ever met. He was a chatter-box! "Don't leave them, I think the girl in the green pelt really likes you."

"Ah know that." Wally spat, lashing his tail, "But Ah'm not usually a cat ya know."

"Really?" Behemoth meowed, sounding totally amazed. "Wow, that's strange. That's why you smell so much like a human! So what happened? Some freak experi...scientific test thing?"

"Cursed." Wally replied with a grunt. He stopped abruptly and looked around with frustration, "Where'd that old hag go?"

"Old hag? You mean the scent that smells like moldy mushrooms?" Behemoth meowed, tipping his head to the side, Wally remembered the woman's rank breath and spun around with surprise. "That's it! Cool, are you going after her? I could help if you like...erm...what was your name again?"

"Numbuh Four." Wally said, narrowing his eyes distrustfully. Behemoth snorted with laughter at this, which didn't exactly help Wally to like him all that much. "It's a codename!"

"Codename?" Behemoth meowed, tipping his head to the side in confusion, "What in the world does that mean?"

Wally opened his mouth to reply, and got stuck. Hey, he's not known for being the brightest crayon in the box. Both cats (lawl, Wally's a cat now) sat there with their heads tipped to one side looking confused. Finally Wally shrugged it off, "Don't matter, moi real name is Wallabee, call meh Wally though."

"Sure thing Numbuhfourwallabeewally." Behemoth said with a grin, Wally rolled his green eyes before padding hesitantly into the street. If he sniffed he could catch that scent, Behemoth was right, they could follow it! The big tabby ran passed him to the other side, and Wally followed him. The tabby was walking confidently down the sidewalk. After a heartbeat's hesitation Wally followed him.

"Oi," Wally said with a slight shudder, "It's cold out 'ere."

"Uh-oh." Behemoth said, stopping, Wally stopped as well. The cat's yellow eyes were stretched wide, "It's Scythe."

"Who now?" Wally meowed, peering around the huge cat's shoulder. A gray tabby was standing in their path. It's eyes were bright orange, and narrowed in utter contempt for the two cats in front of him. Wally narrowed his eyes back, " 'Ey, 'ose this creep?"

"Creep?" Purred the white cat, sauntering up to them. Wally disliked him immediately. Not at all like he had distrusted Behemoth, this was something deeper. A hatred that was born on the spot. "I am Scythe, and YOU are in my territory welp."

"Oi, really?" Wally spat back, Behemoth looked at him as though utterly horrified at this. The pale tabby stepped in front of the massive cat that he had met earlier and faced the white-haired creep before him. Scythe was trembling with complete fury now.

"How DARE you?" The white tom screeched, and before Wally could react he was on him. Wally yowled in surprise as the bigger cat shoved him down, HARD. His head cracked the concrete but before Scythe's claws could even mark his pelt the white cat was hauled forcefully into the air. Wally stared in amazement as Behemoth towered over him on his hind-legs, and held the squirming white tom in his mouth. "RELEASE ME!"

Behemoth grunted, and slammed the white cat down. Scythe gasped with pain for a moment before staggering to his paws. "Don't hurt my friends." Behemoth snarled dangerously, baring his fangs so that they glinted in the light of the streetlamp. Wally was surprised by this, and by the fact that the tabby considered him a friend.

"I won't forget this you beast!" The white cat spat, "You'll pay for it! Both you and your squirt of a friend!" Wally roared with rage but before he could do anything the white tom had sped off into the night. Wally lashed his tail and spat after him before looking at Behemoth.

"Woah, 'Ah didn't know you were that strong." Wally meowed admiringly, Behemoth shrugged and mumbled something about strength not being everything before looking away. Wally twitched his ears, "Are we really mates?"

"What?" Behemoth choked, "No!"

"Er, what, what's wrong wit' you?" Wally gasped, the tom looked utterly horrified, clearly not realizing that cats didn't think of "mates" as a word of friends but well...LITERALLY mates.

"Oh, oh, it's your accent." Behemoth calmed down considerably, "I thought you wanted to be with me as a boyfriend or something. Phew."

"What!?" Wally choked now, and Behemoth laughed. "Not what 'Ah meant! 'Ah meant FRIENDS."

"Yeah, if you want to be." Behemoth meowed calmly. Wally was surprised to find that he kind of did want to be Behemoth's friend. It would be good to have an allie. Still, he was hoping to be turned back to normal by the morning. Their friendship wouldn't be very long. So he nodded, and Behemoth seemed generally pleased at this. After a moment though the brown tom's face fell, "Oh shoot..."

"What?" Wally meowed, coming to his new friend's side. The tabby shook his head and looked apologetically at Wally.

"The scent, it's gone. Disappeared." Behemoth sounded defeated, and terribly sad. Wally sniffed the air and discovered he was right. No scent at all. Wally's tail drooped. So he wouldn't get normal because he couldn't find the lady. He sighed heavily, "Hey, cheer up. I can take you back home..."

"AW CRUD!" Wally yowled, Behemoth's words had reminded him of something. HOME! He was waaaay passed curfew by now, and hadn't asked to stay the night anywhere either. In other words, he was in BIG trouble. "Behemoth, c'mon!"

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Wally ran up to his house and stopped by the window. His family was all in the living room. His mother looked VERY mad, he'd never seen her like that. His father seemed pretty calm at the moment. "Now dearie 'Ah told him not ta come 'ome till he walked that elderly lady across the street..."

"YOU WHAT!?" His mom said, panick in her voice. Wally flinched and whimpered at the noise. Was she really so worried? " Whoi would ya do that? 'E's a kid, and takes things literally ALL the time!"

"Ah'll go pick him up." Wally's father assured. Wally's heart sunk low as his dad got into the car and drove away. Behemoth was sitting quitely behind him, and after a moment cleared his throat.

"You said you were human once? Those are your...parents?" Behemoth meowed gently, Wally nodded. He suddenly was glad for Behemoth, because he had never felt so alone in his entire life. "Come on, let's take you back to your treehouse."

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Behemoth found an easier way for him to get inside! Through a little hole just big enough for his new friend and him to both squeeze through. (Wally had a much easier time than big Behemoth) Behemoth looked around admiringly as Wally padded to his room and pushed the door open with his nose. At least it was a bit ajar. "There, ya can sleep 'ere."

"Thanks Wally." Purred Behemoth, flicking his tail at him and scaling the ladder with a grace that surprised Wally. Wally considered following him but...he didn't think he'd be able to sleep that night.

He padded restlessly down the hallway, up and down, constantly. His mind was churning with possibilities. He was out of options. He HAD to get his friends to figure out it was him somehow! But how!? Wally growled in frustration, and nearly jumped out of his fur when the light on the hallway flicked on. Kuki was standing sleepily at the end of it, but she smiled slowly when she spotted him. "Oh, Tiger."

Wally's heart lurched, and he suddenly ran to his friend, "Please Kuki!" Wally pleaded, "It's meh! Not just a cat! Wally! Please!" She picked him up gently, and he felt a stab of disappointment as she merely cuddled with him. She took him to her room after she got a glass of water, and pushed him under her covers. "Oi! Lemme go Kuki-!?"

"Mmmm, kitty..." Kuki replied, burying her nose in his fur. Wally felt himself begin to relax as she ran her hand comfortingly down his spine. A soft purr started in his throat, and even though his friend didn't recognize him he felt a little better. Soon he drifted off into a deep sleep.

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"Pssst, Wally!" Wally mumbled something and turned over in his sleep, snuggling closer to the soft thing beside him. It was warm too, and he felt a sense of immense safety for some reason. A sharp thing prodded him between his shoulder blades, "Waaaallllyyyy?"

"Ger'off." Wally replied burying his nose into the soft green fabric in front of him. The sharp thing prodded him once more, and with eyes blazing furiously he sat up and whipped around, "Oi, what!?"

It was Behemoth, and even after Wally's cross words he just smiled brightly at him. "Come on, get up, I just thought of something that might help you out. I'm an idiot for not thinking of it before!" Behemoth's yellow eyes twinkled merrily as he looked over Wally's shoulder, "Unless you're busy here protecting you're special person."

"Special what?" Wally mumbled, looking at Kuki sleeping behind him. His heart gave an odd little tug, which bothered him a bit. "Kuki's not special, she's jus' a friend!"

"Uh-huh." Behemoth said, not at all like he believed Wally. Wally lashed his tail and opened his mouth to say something but Behemoth was gracefully padding towards the open window, "Come on Wally! Hurry up!"

Wally wondered what time it was, probably pretty late since there were no cars out at the moment. Or really early. He had to run down the sidewalk after his new friend, Behemoth was really excited about whatever it was that he wanted to show him. "Oi! Wait up!"

"Come on!" Behemoth yowled for the umpteenth time, Wally lashed his pale tail in agitation. Suddenly Behemoth broke off from the sidewalk and headed towards a dark alley. Wally stopped. Hey, he was a tough guy and all but he had never been outside this late before, and definitely not in a dark alleyway.

He expected Nightbrace or Count Spankula to jump out of the shadows at any moment, and because of this began to bristle warily. Reluctantly he followed Behemoth. Being a cat made things...different. The alley made him even more uncomfortable because of the dank scents that were suddenly magnified. He heard a rat scuttle quickly by, and it bared it's vicious little teeth at him as he passed. He shuddered, " 'Ey! Wait up Be'emoth!"

It turned out his friend didn't need to wait up, Wally walked face-first into the massive tabby and fell on his backside. Irritation coursed through him, and he shot the cat the most evil look he could possibly imagine. (mostly because he yelped a bit when he bumped into him) Then his eyes drifted passed his friend to the two big cats that stood at the mouth of...a tunnel? They were both either black or gray (even with awesome cat-night vision he honestly couldn't tell for the darkness around them) and though they were big Behemoth still towered over them. In fact, they seemed terrified of the big cat, they were bristling with fear and hissing at him furiously.

"Greetings." Behemoth said, using a gentle and soft tone. Wally swallowed the urge to leap on the cats, and wouldn't have even thought of doing that if Behemoth was mostly in his way. If he tried to attack them he'd hurt his friend getting there. Sure he jumped into things, but not with one of his friends standing right in front of him.

"Who are you tresspasser?" The lighter colored one hissed, his blue eyes narrowed in rage. Wally shoved passed Behemoth and snarled viciously and the cat who had spoken, he was gray (Wally decided), gathered himself to attack the smaller cat. Wally didn't let it happen that way, he sprang before the gray cat could.

"Wally no!" Behemoth choked out, but Wally hardly heard him. His claws bit into the gray cat's pelt and he dug his fangs into the other tom's shoulder. The gray tom flattened him, pressing him hard to the concrete. Wally reacted instinctively by digging his back claws into the gray cat's stomach. Those blue eyes stretched wide with pain, and it leaped off of him. Big mistake! Wally sprang in the air and KICKED him, yeah, kicked him folks. Like a human, right in the face. With is back claws out and everything it resulted in a rather devastating attack. However before Wally could do any more damage he was hauled into the air by..."Mmmmmf!"

"BE'EMOTH!" Wally yowled, clawing at the air in front of him. It was a rather comical sight actually, the massive tom was on his haunches and the little cat wasn't even close to the dingy ground. Wally looked FURIOUS, his ears were flattened against his head and as the gray tom got up to attack him once more he spat at him. But the black cat stopped him by barring his path, and both the aggressive cats blinked in bewilderment.

"Don't attack each other alright, that goes for you as well Dusk!" The black cat spat, the gray tom snarled at Wally once more but then looked away. Behemoth slowly lowered the smaller cat so that his paws were touching the ground, but immediately placed his paws over Wally's tail to hold him back. Wally glared at his friend but the black cat was speaking, "What are you doing here?"

"I have come to see Acacia." Behemoth meowed, "I have a favor to ask of her..."

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_**Wow, that's two chapters in one night! On a ROLL! XP Anyways, chapter is over. :3 R&R please, I luffs Behemoth so much, and that definitely won't be the end of Scythe! Hope you all will like Acacia, and I'm getting right on Chapter three! :3**_


	4. Fading Hope

_DISCLAIMER;;_

_Falalalala_

_Don'tOwnIiiiit..._

_lalala..._

_'cept Behemoth_

_lalala_

_orAnyOtherCharactersYouDoooon't..._

_RECOGNIZE! -sings-_

_**imasmurf- Obsession is unhealthy -tsks- ...buuuut go ahead and be obsessed with this. :3**_

**_Laurie43- Lawl, hug Wally all you like. Not sure if he'd put up with it though, what with all his tough-guy attitude. :3 Glad you like Behemoth. I hope you'll like Acacia. Here's you're update. -tries to say this all in a poetic kind of way and fails epic...epically? badly fails-_**

**_sstoons3425(in regards to both reviews)- I was going to make his name something ridiculous at first, but then I thought, TIGER. It was perfect. XP Right amount of cutesy toughness for a Numbuh Four kitteh. Yeah, Behemoth has been a stray for quite awhile, so he knows how to deal with life on the street. And thank you! I worked hard on their personalities...'specially Behemoth's..._**

**_I'm really on a roll with this one. :3 Don't know why, I've never updated a fanfiction so quickly. I'm already about half-way done with chapter five, so expect it up tomorrow probably. Unfortunately I leave for Speech and Drama state on Thursday, and won't be back until...Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I probably won't be in the mood to write until Monday, you'd be surprised how much acting can take out of you. -sighs-_**

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_Chapter Four- Fading Hope_

"Acacia?" Wally meowed, trying to pronounce the name the way his friend had said it. Behemoth nodded his head and the black cat's eyes narrowed suspiciously. His tail twitched and he looked at the gray cat, Dusk, behind him before turning back to Behemoth.

"Fine then, what is the code to gain entry?" The cat meowed solemnly, Dusk seemed appalled at this, and sprang to his paws yowling. "Shut up Dusk!"

"Bu-but Shadow!" Dusk stuttered, 'Shadow' replied by giving the blue eyed tom a narrow glare. That shut him up quickly enough, and Wally couldn't help but stick his tongue out at the cruddy jerk since they had been the two fighting. Dusk's reply to this was to spit furiously, before turning and facing the other direction. Wally; 1, Dusk; 0

"The code?" Behemoth purred, "Oh yes, it was...erm; Follow the path of love always, for love alone has the light that shall illuminate the path ahead, even in the darkest of times." Wally watched as Dusk's shoulders slumped forward in a defeated manner and Shadow dipped his head in respect.

"Dusk, run ahead and tell Acacia of her guests. I shall escort them to her myself." Shadow meowed, Dusk hesitated, but then nodded his head. Shooting one last death glare over at Wally, the gray cat slipped into a smaller hole that Behemoth would have no hope of getting through. Wally considered following him, but Shadow was blocking his path, and gestured with his black paw to the tunnel ahead of them.

Behemoth left first, and Wally pushed himself into the tunnel after him. He couldn't imagine how his friend must have felt, the tunnel was completely dark, and even though he had to be small enough to easily pass through Wally felt a slight wave of claustrophobia set in. "Oi, it's pitch black in 'ere!"

"Let your whiskers guide you." Shadow said quietly behind him, Wally twitched his whiskers but said nothing in reply. After awhile a sound that made him incredibly nervous met his ears. He felt the hair on the back of his pelt rise up, and hated being a cat because of it. At least when he was NORMAL if he felt nervous or (God forbid) scared it was easy to hide. Like this every emotion he felt was portrayed by a flick of the ears, a lash of the tail, a rise of his fur.

"Water." Behemoth said ahead, sounding utterly surprised. Wally realized his friend had rounded a corner, and the chamber they walked into was much bigger, and lighter too. Sure enough the three cats were standing on a ledge that over looked a huge pool of water. The chamber they were in was natural, a strange cave that had somehow been formed under the city. Well, not exactly, Wally didn't know it, but he'd left the city behind quite a ways back. He was just on the outskirts of his hometown of Cleveland now.

Wally's fur was now beginning to get damp because of the pool of water, and he watched Shadow warily. Were they going to swim? He didn't know how! It was one of the few things he just couldn't do! Shadow suddenly stepped out...onto the water! It took a moment for Wally to realize that no, Shadow wasn't walking on the water, there were PLANKS floating there. The black cat hopped acrossed and Behemoth quickly followed.

Wally gulped and padded after them. He hated the way the boards pitched under his weight as he jumped on them. Still they managed it back onto solid ground, and Wally couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his maw. There was another tunnel, but this one was much shorter, and there was a silvery light ahead.

When they went into the next cavern it was MUCH brighter. The scent of fresh air rolled over him, and when he looked up he realized that this cavern had no roof. The moon was shining brightly down, casting everything in this cave in a silver light. Wally gaped a bit, and wondered if Numbuh Three would like it. After that he stopped gaping and puzzled on why he wanted Kuki to see it so badly in the first place.

"Behemoth!" The soft voice startled him, and Wally looked up to see a very pretty silver she-cat. Very pretty, as in even he (who thought pretty things to be rather cruddy thank you very much) found himself gaping in awe. She was taller than he was, not nearly as big as Behemoth. She was willow-like and slender, with dark gray stripes high-lighting her long-haired silver pelt. Her eyes were a shade of blue so bright that it startled him. Her pupils, Wally noticed as she drew close enough to press her muzzle warmly against his after she had greeted Behemoth, were white. She was blind, "And this is young Wallabee. Nice to meet you."

" 'Ow...did you know mah name?" Wally choked in surprise, the she-cat's eyes twinkled brilliantly at him. Wally decided that Kuki would LOVE this she-cat, she was looking at him in such a loving way that even he felt peaceful...erm, not looking he supposed, since she couldn't really see.

"There are many mysteries that even the Kids Next Door haven't uncovered. Though I must say, your group is rather...intuitive." She smiled warmly at him and Wally felt incredibly lost. "I am Acacia, you have come because of Wallabee, right Behemoth."

"The way you know everything I'm about to do still unnerves me." Behemoth mumbled, but not unkindly. The large tom dipped his head in respect (which Wally saw no point in since, again, Acacia was clearly blind) and extended a paw towards her gallantly, "How much of my new friend do you know? Clearly that he was once human...?"

"Yes, of course." Acacia meowed, she turned her slender muzzle to Wally again. He had the unnerving sensation that, all though the she-cat was blind, she could see straight through him. Not just him either, but everything about him. Who he was, and had been, and WOULD be. Everything. "Wallabee do you know why you have turned into a cat?"

"Because tha' cruddy woman wanted me to be one?" Wally meowed, Acacia smiled softly at him and shook her head.

"True, that woman isn't known for her love of things. The world would be a better place without her, but the curse is old and only works in certain circumstances. She would probably be surprised to find out it actually happened to you, because of the way it works only for certain people. Usually when the cursed one needs a wake-up call about the world around him...do you understand?" Acacia meowed gently, Wally shook his head and Behemoth fell over onto his side in a fit of laughter. Acacia's ears pricked at this and she smiled, "It means, Wallabee, that you have been blind to your own life. Something very important, and once you see it you will be freed of your curse."

"She's saying that you haven't noticed something important." Behemoth said, clearly reading the clueless expression on Wally's face. Still, his ears were pricked forward and he leaned towards the silver she-cat with curiousity flickering in his green eyes. And hope.

"Ya know 'ow to fix meh?" Wally almost yowled in triumph! YES! Freedom was just around the corner! He could taste it! No more fur and tails and paws! And once he was human he could kick that cruddy old lady into kingdom come.

"Yes Wallabee." Acacia said with a soft purr. She leaned forward and Wally held his breath in anticipation. What would cure this curse of his? "There are two steps to curing your curse Wallabee."

"Steps?" Wally said, "Oi, got it, what are they then?"

"First, you must admit to yourself that you are in love. Then, you must prove that you would give your life for that love." Acacia was very solemn, and it was probably a good thing that she was blind. Behemoth noticed that as soon as the word 'love' entered the equation his friends face had gained a full-fledged scowl. Acacia shook her head, "Even then though, Wallabee, your curse will never completely be broken. Part of it will remain with you...are you alright?"

For a moment Wally just sat there, quivering in anger. Then he exploded, much to the clear amusement of Acacia. He stormed up and down the cavern, his words were hardly discernable at first for the echoes. After a moment though one could sort out the gist of what the little cat was saying. "AW CRUD! ARE YA CRUDDY SERIOUS! LOOOOVE! OF ALL THE CRUDDY-! IT'S LOIKE THOSE CRUDDY GIRRRRLIE STORIES NUMBUH THREE READS AND SUCH! BLECH!" He lashed his tail twice and glared at the ground under his paws, "Ah'm nevuh gonna fall in..."

Wally didn't finish, just gagged as if the idea of such intamacy was enough to choke him to death. That was too much for Behemoth, who suddenly burst into a fit of laughter and toppled over. Acacia was shaking her head sympathetically, "I have faith that you will realize what your heart wants Wallabee." Acacia said, Wally's reply to this was to growl sullenly at his paws. The silver cat padded over and pressed her nose gently against his forehead. A strange warm glow seeped through him, and Wally sprang back.

"What was tha?" Wally meowed, and Acacia purred with amusement.

"A small gift. I know how you humans are terribly shy of your own bodies, that will let you have your clothing back once you regain your true form. Have faith Wallabee, love is not something so bad. Think of it as giving you something to protect." Acacia smiled warmly before tilting her muzzle towards Behemoth, "My debt to you, Behemoth, is still unpaid."

"But, this is a favor-" Behemoth choked out.

"For Wallabee, not you. Your unfailing kindness warms my heart Behemoth, but the debt was to you not Wallabee. I shall repay YOU and only you, not your friends." Acacia smiled at them both while Wally stared down at his pelt and muttered something about her using magic to let him understand his friends. She laughed, "If you complete the first step perhaps I'll bestow this gift upon you Wallabee. Until then, I must bid you farewell."

With that the she-cat leaped from precarious rock to precarious rock towards the ceiling of the cave. Wally held his breath, and even Behemoth trembled with worry as the she-cat made the dangerous journey to the hole in the roof. She vanished over the rim of it, and was gone. Suddenly Dusk appeared at their side, flanked by Shadow, and the two cat's pushed them towards the tunnels once more.

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_**(note to the reader; **_

_**this is focusing on Kuki now :3)**_

Kuki woke up, and noticed that Tiger was gone. She looked around nervously, but after awhile gave up. Kitty's liked to be free after all, she couldn't hold him forever. She skipped her way out into the hallway, and her happiness almost instantly hit rock bottom. Numbuh Five was walking down the hallway towards her, shaking her head and muttering something under her breath. Kuki was happy-go-lucky as a rule, but she wasn't stupid. Something was wrong.

"Numbuh Five!" Kuki yelled, bouncing over to her friend, "What's up!?"

The other girl regarded her for a moment, and finally heaved a tired sigh. "Numbuh Four hasn't shown up at all yet, his dad came 'round to talk to Numbuh One's dad last night. Numbuh Five don't think it's a good sign." Kuki felt a wave of confusion. Numbuh Four wasn't here, but was that such a big problem? Almost as if to answer this, Numbuh Two's voice drifted down the hall.

"Numbuh Five! Hurry up! There's something on the news!" Numbuh Five spun around and grabbed Kuki by the hand. They both ran into the living room. Kuki didn't like this at all. Kids...well, it wasn't exactly a rule but most children in the KND didn't like watching the news. Watching the news was...an adult thing to do.

Yet as she entered the big living commons they had, and saw the big picture of her friend up on the screen her heart lurched sickeningly. Numbuh One solemnly turned up the sound, and the lady announcer on the screen's voice, dripping with fake sympathy, rang through the whole treehouse. (or so it seemed)

"-It was the last time Mr. Beetles had a chance to see his son. Wallabee Beetles was reported officially missing at 7:30 last night, when Mr. Beetles stumbled on his son's clothing, the only thing forensics has been able to find of the young lad. There has been no information released on the case, but the search has been taken to the wooded park and ditches near the place the clothing was found. This leads us to suspect that police are searching for a body..." Numbuh Five abruptly shut the television off. The four friends stared at each other with wide eyes for a moment before tears obscured Kuki's vision.

"Can't we do something?" Numbuh Two whimpered, wringing his hands nervously, "Surely if we contact Moonbase they'll h-help us or something..."

"There are some things even WE must leave to the adults Numbuh Two." Numbuh One murmured, sadness made his voice thicker than usual. Suddenly Kuki burst into tears. Her three friends stared at her helplessly, then Numbuh Two moved over to give her a hug. She shrugged him away. She didn't want his hugs, she wanted Numbuh Four's hugs, Wally's hugs.

"Numbuh Five says we should check out the Delightful's mansion." Numbuh Five said, though she didn't sound as though that had much promise to it at all. In fact, it sounded as if she just wanted to be able to do something that would give them a little hope, no matter how small that glimmer was.

Kuki didn't answer, and Numbuh Two's hopeful look just made the Numbuh Five push her hat so that it obscured her eyes. Kuki spun around with a wailing sound, and tore down the hallway to her room. She shoved passed the curtain and buried herself in a pile of stuffed toys that couldn't possibly offer the comfort she wanted. Her throat tightened as she remembered the time that Numbuh One had almost quit because of his big butt. Wally had yelled at her, and attempted to cheer her up with all her favorite stuffed toys. As she sat in her room with those happy faces around her she couldn't help but remember that moment, and it made her cry even harder. Everyone seemed to think her friend Wally was dead, and the mere thought that he was out there, dead, or hurt or even afraid, broke her heart.

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_**(-coughs- actually got a little lump in my throat writing that bit. Back to Wally now)**_

Wally jumped in through the window and glanced over his shoulder at his massive friend. The big tom-cat cleared, not only him, but the entire windowsill, and landed inside. Wally jumped onto the floor and heard Behemoth suck in a breath, "It's so...oppressive."

"Wha?" Wally said, realizing that the atmosphere of his second home had greatly changed. It seemed...thicker, heavier somehow. Sadder. He rounded the corner and spotted Numbuh One with Numbuh Five and Numbuh Two. Numbuh Two was holding what might have once been a piece of paper in his hands, but he had torn it into small pieces. Numbuh Five had her hat down even farther than usual, and Numbuh One was holding his sunglasses in one hand while staring at the ceiling. The thing that surprised him was well...they were all crying.

Sure, he'd seen Numbuh Two cry once or twice, maybe even Numbuh One. He had NEVER seen Numbuh Five cry though. EVER. Something had happened. He glanced at Behemoth, who had hidden himself behind the coach. Wally crept forward, and looked up at his friends.

"The-there has to be some hope." Numbuh Two said, he sounded devastated.

"There is." Numbuh One said firmly, "And even if there is only the slightest bit of hope we'll hold onto it. You were right earlier Numbuh Two, we have to contact Moonbase and see if we can do something about this."

"Numbuh Five just hopes that Kuki can hold out until then..." Numbuh Five whispered, wiping her eyes stubbornly. Wally twitched his ears in confusion. Numbuh Five...well, sure, sometimes he called Numbuh Three by her name, but hardly anyone else did! It also made him worried. Something had upset Kuki apparently, and he was going to find out what it was.

"Hey!" Behemoth hissed as Wally shot passed him and ran down the hallway. Wally ignored him. He had more...urgent matters. Not dwelling on that fact, he burst through the curtain doorway and looked around to find Kuki buried in her bed. All of her stuffed toys had been flung acrossed the room and away from her. Which confused him, usually she wanted them with her if she was sad or something.

"Kuki?" Wally meowed hesitantly, the girl looked up and Wally jumped with surprise. Her eyes were swollen, but the look of sadness in their violet depths tore at his heart, and gave him something close to physical pain.

"T-Tiger..." Kuki cried out, and scooped him up. She buried her face in his fur, and Wally found himself ignoring the fact that her tears were making it unpleasantly wet. "It's n-no fair Tiger!"

"Shhh..." Wally murmured, feeling a strange need to stop her tears. He patted at her face with his paw, "Shhh, please Kuki stop that..."

"My-my friend..." Kuki wailed, "My bestfriend, he liked doing weird things sometimes, and could be a doody-head but I don't want him dead. I want Wally back Tiger, I want Wally I want him to be okay."

Wally froze in shock. Was that what everyone was upset about? They thought he was dead? Kuki cried hard into his fur, and Wally felt tears fill his own eyes. Tears of frustration. His friends were around him, worried he was hurt, or even worse, dead. He couldn't do anything about it too.

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_**I really tried to get a feel of two things in this, Kuki's feelings for Wally, and the friendship he has with the rest of his team. I mean, with the super cuteness of 3/4 it's easy to overlook the other relationships he has with his buddies.**_

_**I might throw in some more friendship moments with Numbuh Two. (I used to hate him when I first watched the series but I ADORE his character now, I wonder why...)**_

_**Sheesh, how many lines has Numbuh One had in this fic all together? Four? XP Poor bald neglected British KND leader...**_

_**At first they were supposed to suspect that he just ran away from home. HOWEVER, I realized that...well, all that was left of the kid was his clothing and that is something rather suspicious. So I made it bigger and then this chapter got all emotional and crazy-like...**_

_**Poor Wally. Won't even lie to you, I can't imagine anything more frustrating than that situation right there. So will he figure out how to break his curse? Or will his friends figure out that Tiger is actually Wally? And what's going to happen to poor Behemoth, hiding out in the treehouse without technically being invited?**_

_**Pssh, I know all that, but you'll just have to wait to see...or click and read the next chapter. Again, that is only if the chapter is up you know, because otherwise it...won't work. :3**_


	5. Operation CHEER UP

_DISCLAIMER; -sighsdefeatedly- Don't own it, 'cept Behemoth...and all my characters...and the plot..._

**_Wow, okay, so I lied to you. I'll probably have chapter SIX up tomorrow, since I got this one done already. :3_**

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_Chapter Five- Operation C.H.E.E.R. U.P._

_(author attempted to create nifty anagram for this and failed miserably, sorry)_

After what seemed like nearly an hour Kuki fell asleep. Wally glanced outside at the sun, and wondered at the strangeness of this. Still, his friend was emotionally exhausted so it was only natural she try and sleep. He himself wanted to curl up as well, but couldn't bring himself to. He had to do SOMETHING to get his friends to realize he was okay.

"She's very sad." Wally nearly jumped five feet at the sound of Behemoth's voice. The tom-cat was looking tenderly at Kuki, "She's your friend right? They all think you're dead..."

"Yeah." Wally grunted, an answer to both questions. He jumped out of Kuki's bed and padded out into the hallway. He could hear Numbuh One arguing with somebody, sounded like Numbuh Eighty-six (one could tell because of the way her voice tended to shred the ears) which startled him slightly. Cats, apparently, had very good hearing. " 'Ah need ta foind a way ta let Kuki know Ah'm okay..."

"Just Kuki." Behemoth said with a slightly wicked smile and a curious glance at his new friend. Wally felt his ears burn and he opened his mouth to snap something hotly in reply but Behemoth just meowed, "Don't your friends have one of those thingies? You know, with the glowing screen and the letters that you press to make words? What was that called...OH! Computers! Don't your friends have a computer?"

"Yes!" Wally yowled, and took off towards the commons area. He skidded and slid into the couch, and stood there blinking dazedly for a few moments. Numbuh One was, thankfully, using the communicator he had in his own room for his rather loud conversation with Numbuh Eighty-six. Wally gathered all of his strength and leaped for the big keyboard...only to fall pathetically short and in a heap on the ground.

"Erm...need a boost there buddy?" Behemoth purred in amusement, Wally yelped in surprise as the big cat pushed his muzzle under his paws and hoisted him into the air. Behemoth stood there, looking slightly comical with little Wally perched precariously on his head, on his hind paws, "Alright, hurry up and jump, I can't stand like this for very long."

"Roight!" Wally meowed, and sprang. This time he landed on the keyboard, and green-beam screen thingy (for lack of any intelligent word) flickered to life above the couch. Wally stared at the keys in complete and total confusion, "How do Ah do this?"

"Sheesh, and everyone says YOUR the more intelligent species." Behemoth meowed, and sprang up towards the keyboard. The tom landed easily and gracefully at Wally's side and eyed the keys, "Well, you use the keys with the letters on them to write words I think. You know, if I was going to write my name I'd use that 'B' over there...why are you looking at me like that?"

"Yah can SPELL?" Wally said, feeling incredibly dumb. Behemoth stared at him without answering and Wally turned to look at the computer. "Okay! Ah know what Ah'll do!"

It took...well, quite awhile. Wally isn't exactly known for his comprehension skills. Plus he and Behemoth had a rather long argument discussing why Wally couldn't simply put I'm Okay, sense his friends wouldn't really know who I was. But after awhile the words...erm, if they could be called that, were floating in the green beam: **nombeh fquor iz ocay**

"You spelled Okay wrong?" Behemoth meowed, shaking his head and jumping down. He accidentally knocked Wally down with him, and the cat hissed in frustration. "I'm sorry Wally, are you alright?"

"Yeah, foine." Wally croaked, that's when Numbuh Two spotted the floating words. He let out a cry of alarm, and Behemoth scooted off to go hide under a chair. "Be'emoth no! Ah need ya ta boost-"

"Guys! Gusy! Come look!" Numbuh Two yelled, he scooped Wally up happily, "Alright Tiger! Look! Numbuh Four's okay!"

"Really?" Numbuh Three said, looking at the letters. Numbuh Five was nodding her head and a small smile lit up her face, Numbuh One, however, looked terribly skeptical.

"How can we be truly sure it's Numbuh Four who left us this message?" The team leader said. At the same time all four friends regarded the floating words, which were, of course, terribly misspelled. "Nevermind..."

"Yeah, it's him alright, but Numbuh Five wonders why he left a message and left. Numbuh Five wonders why Numbuh Four didn't just tell us in person." The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, and Wally meowed pathetically at Numbuh Two.

"Aw, com'on Numbuh Two, lemme on the typey-thing again. It's meh!" Wally complained. Numbuh Two patted his head gently to quiet him down. Numbuh One's eyes were narrowed skeptically behind his sunglasses.

"Perhaps Numbuh Four is in trouble with some adults. Big trouble, that even he doesn't want us to get involved in. That, or he's bitten off more than he can chew and is just too stubborn to ask for help..." Numbuh One said, "Yeah, probably the second one."

"What's that supposed ta mean!" Wally yowled, looking angrily at his friend. Numbuh Two put him down after that, mistaking the angry yowl as impatience at being held any longer. "No, no, no, noooo!"

"Wow, Tiger's upset about something." Numbuh Two said in surprise, "Hey, maybe he's hungry!"

This made Wally two things respectively; firstly, even more irritated than before, secondly, really hungry since he realized he hadn't eaten in AGES. As such his stomach growled, loudly, seemingly confirming what his friend had thought. The four of his friends looked at each other a little guiltily, as they had forgotten that pets often required food.

"I'll get Tiger some food!" Kuki said, Wally felt a thrill at his success. They were still worried about him, but the air of depression had lifted from the treehouse. Wally even let himself purr as Kuki scooped him into her arms and skipped into the kitchen. She opened the fridge, after setting him on the table, and rooted through the contents for some food.

"Pssst..." Wally glanced down at Behemoth, who had flattened himself miserably between the refrigerator and the wall. His eyes were wide with worry, which Wally couldn't understand. If anything he'd just get hugged to death, or kicked out...oh. He shrugged at his friend to show him he had absolutely know idea what to do in his situation. Which earned him a roll of the eyes from the tabby cat.

"Here Tiger!" Kuki said, setting a fish in front of him. Why was there a fish in their fridge? Wally didn't know, fish was gross. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at it and looked up at her imploringly. "What? You don't like fishies?"

"No, Ah Don' like fish! Whatt're you NUTS?" Wally meowed, fish was the most DISGUSTING thing EVER. Well, besides brussel sprouts...or asparagus. Kuki laughed, then a sad look entered her eyes.

"You kinda remind me of Numbuh Four Tiger." She said, petting him. Wally gaped at her. Of all the people to even SLIGHTLY notice it was the one who could barely keep her attention on anything for five minutes! Wally could kiss her! Which made him blush under his orange tabby fur, and wonder why THAT thought popped in his head.

"YES!" He yowled, nodding his head vigorously, "Yes, Kuki that's roight! Meh! Numbuh Four!" (Heeey, right when the author was writing this she heard Wally yell "Hai Ya!" because operation K.A.S.T.L.E. is playing on tv) Wally was practically bouncing now, actually he really was. Which was something he didn't do often, since bouncing was rather girly. So when Kuki said what she did next he actually fell off the table.

"Okaaaay, Tiger REAALLLY doesn't want fish!" Kuki said cheerfully, which is around the time that Wally fell off the table in his despair. Kuki's eyes widened with horror and she scooped him up instantly, "Oh no! Are you hurt!?"

Wally didn't know what to do. Very gently Kuki kissed his paw, and the young boy turned feline just sat their looking stupid. More so than usual really. His mouth was hanging open and he found himself turning bright red. So bright one could actually see it through his fur. This resulted in Behemoth letting out a rather loud snort of laughter. The brown tom then proceeded to shove his own paw down his throat to stifle the noise. Kuki didn't seem to notice a thing.

"There you go! Allll better!" Kuki said, nuzzling him lovingly.

"Ah, er, wha?" Wally choked out, Kuki threw the fish away and began searching through the fridge once more. This time she resurfaced with...pizza. She looked at it skeptically but Wally began gnawing on it almost immediately. "Roight! Pizza!"

"Way to change the subject." Behemoth purred jokingly, unfortunately that attracted attention this time. Well...not truly unfortunately, as it was Numbuh Three and she liked fluffy things. Next thing Behemoth knew he was being held in the air, "Woah!"

"AWWWW! Tiger has a friend!" Kuki said, then staggered a bit, "A REAAAALLLY BIG friend!"

"Numbuh Three! Where did you get that other cat?" Numbuh One yelled. Kuki squealed in surprise, and dropped poor Behemoth. Luckily he landed gracefully on his paws, and Wally was in front of him glaring at Numbuh One in an instant. "Erm...right...well..."

Behemoth tore off, leaped over the counter, and out the window. Wally stared after him in amazement and Kuki looked angrily at Numbuh One. "You scared the bigger kitty away!" Kuki yelled, Numbuh One winced and walked away, completely unwilling to get in an argument with her at the moment. "I'm sorry Tiger, Numbuh One's just a big tushie meanie-head!"

"Erm...yeah..." Wally said, wondering where Behemoth had run off to, and why he had gone so quickly too. Suddenly Kuki scooped him up and rubbed her nose against his. "Hey! Wha?"

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Wally had never been so humiliated in his entire life. Even the time he'd been dressed up as that toy for Kuki was better than...than THIS. He was in a dress, a kitten sized dress with little frills and bows. Wally stared at his paws with his ears flattened against his skull in fury. It didn't help either, that he was sitting at a miniature plastic table surrounded by all of her stuffed animals. Her as in Kuki of course, who else would be insane enough to force a young tom-cat to cross dress?

Wally was on the opposite end of little plastic table of the girl. She was pouring him tea. Real tea. Wally looked around at the stuffed animals and shuddered inwardly. "How can you loike those things? Wha' with their painted on SMILES and creepy eoyes..."

"Mrs. Tigey likes tea parties!" Kuki giggled, Wally flattened his ears at this and she giggled at his reaction, "She's sure talkative, isn't she Big-Bottom Rainbow Monkey?"

Wally could have easily run away, the door was a freakin' curtain for Pete's sake. Even though it was embarassing to be in a dress at the moment he could have gone to Numbuh Two, who would have released him. Yet he couldn't bring himself too. This was the happiest and most...well, most Numbuh Three like she'd been all day. She wasn't really thinking of worries right now, which was fine by Wally. He hated it, but he'd endure this if it put a smile on her face.

_Why does it matter. _Wally found himself thinking for the umpteenth time. He couldn't answer himself, he didn't really KNOW why. After awhile though Numbuh Three released him from his dress and bows. "Oi, wha?"

"You don't really like being dressed up in a dress, do you Tiger?" Kuki said, she picked him up and giggled, "That's okay, I like you as a boy anyways Mr. Tiger. You're the cutest boy kitty EVER."

With that she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the nose. At this time Numbuh One yelled for her, and with one last goodbye hug she set him on the ground and ran out. Wally stood there gaping like a fish out of water. It was around this time that he heard the purr of complete amusement from the window, "You look surprised."

"Be-Be'emoth! Wha, what are YOU doin' here?" Wally choked, the idea of a FRIEND seeing THAT.

"Don't look so surprised, she's very nice for a human you know." He pointed out, "Besides, she thinks you're a cat, not Wally. You're thinking on way too personal lines. Only because you want to of course."

"Yeah Ah...WHAT!?" Wally blanched at his friend, who arched an eyebrow at him quizzically. "NO! EW! GROSS! Ah don't loike a cruddy GIRL!"

"Keep telling yourself that pal." Behemoth purred.

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**_Chapter five is OVER! _**

**_:3_**

**_Hope you enjoyed it. Streakzy is really having fun writing this. I must be, since I can't seem to stop. _**


	6. See the Light

_Disclaimer; _

_Don't own it._

_**Small 2/5 hint in here, see if you can find it...**_

_**To all of you guys, I was wondering if I should maybe make Acacia and Behemoth a potential couple...tell me what you all think. :3**_

_**Don't worry, Wally's still gonna be in this one...**_

_**Lawl, this chapter is going to have one of my favorite characters as a guest. **_

_**Laurie43-**__** Yeah, me too. She's the kind of person that adores all things cute and furry :3**_

_**DarkRoseMoons-**__** Me too, I really enjoyed writing the part she kissed him on the nose**_

_**Clueless c-**__** XP Here's your update**_

_**sstoons3425-**__** That he does! You'll have to wait and see if Behemoth stays in the treehouse...**_

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_Chapter Six- See The Light_

_**(A few days have passed...)**_

Wally was sick and tired of being a cat. He had been stuck like this for nearly a week. His friends were beginning to start to worry again, and Kuki kept breaking down into tears every now and again. It was becoming a constant cycle, one that was terribly uncomfortable. Not only that but he HATED it when his friends left on missions without him. It KILLED him. Not nearly as much as it killed him when Numbuh One called Sector V in for a meeting.

Wally was sitting on Kuki's lap (HIS place now, she was the most comfortable to sit on, what with her rather large green jumper) and Numbuh Five was sitting next to her petting his head gently. Numbuh Two was twiddling his thumbs, and Numbuh One was adressing them all. The bald Brit was pacing up and down in front of them, Wally tracked him with his green eyes.

"Alright, since it's been quite awhile since Numbuh Four went missing we have to assume that he's stuck somewhere. Unfortunately he hasn't sent us any signals, so we can't hope to give him any help. All we can do is sit tight and wait." Numbuh One said, this was met with almost immediate denial from Numbuh Three. Numbuh Five was trying to calm her down, and Numbuh Two was actually holding Numbuh One by the front of his shirt!

Wally gaped, HE was the tough-guy. His friend wasn't exactly a pacifist, but he wasn't much of a fighter either. He had never seen Numbuh Two look so mad before, "We can't just leave him Numbuh One! He's our friend!"

"Yes, but we can't exactly help him if we don't know where he is." Numbuh One pointed out, the leader sounded wounded. "I wouldn't abandon Numbuh Four if I had any idea where he was Numbuh Two, but I don't."

"Calm down Hoagie..." Numbuh Five soothed, which surprised Wally. They hardly ever used their real names, but Numbuh Two grudgingly placed Numbuh One down. Numbuh Five glanced at the team leader, "You okay Numbuh One?"

"I'm fine." Numbuh One snapped, then looked a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry Numbuh Five...Numbuh Two...erhem. Moving on. All of you know that since Numbuh Four isn't here we are technically one man short. So I have requested that moon-base send us an operative to temporarily replace Numbuh Four. TEMPORARILY Numbuh Three!"

Kuki had screamed in utter outrage at this, and Numbuh Two looked as though he were considering hitting him after all. Numbuh Five stepped in front of them and glared at her two friends, "Numbuh Five says for ya'll to cool it!" She snapped, both kids stared at her in wide-eyed surprise, "Numbuh One is doin' what's best as leader. He's right, without Numbuh Four our team is crippled. We aren't getting somebody to take his place or anything...Numbuh One, who are they sending?"

At this the bald leader looked VERY nervous. He hummed a little tune, looked away, and then after a hesitant little laugh he said, "Oh...Numbuh Eighty-six..."

"WHAT!?" Wally yowled. Of all the people to replace him it had to be that loud-mouthed, bad-tempered, cranky-little FANNY! Wally slammed his head on the desk. The rest of the operatives seemed to share this reaction, except for Kuki who just said something about how nice that slumber party was that one time.

"Numbuh Five can't believe this! Numbuh Eighty-six!? Why of all the operatives..." The girl slapped her forehead and pretended to faint. Numbuh Two caught her and made a motion with his head that made one realize he was rolling his eyes behind those big yellow goggles.

"Yeah Numbuh One, she's so loud!" Numbuh Two said.

"And annoyin'." Wally added, wishing they could understand him once more.

"Care sayin' that to my face Hoagie Gilligan?" The group froze, Numbuh One took on the look of someone who has both been greatly humiliated and terrified at the same time. Numbuh Two actually hid behind Numbuh Five, who just glowered beneath her red hat. Numbuh Three waved at the newcomer and held Wally up for them to see.

"HIIII NUMBUH EIGHTY-SIX!" Kuki yelled, making Wally's ears ring a little unpleasantly. "Lookit, this is TIIIGER, isn't he just the cuuuuuutest!?"

The girl in question was, none other than, operative Numbuh Eighty-six. She was definitely of Irish decent, with her thick accent and curly red hair. Her eyes were almost always narrowed in anger, and her nose was dotted with freckles. She had a VERY short temper, which resulted in explosions. She also was known for the fact that she could probably be heard all the way from Moonbase if she yelled from here.

Still, she seemed a bit thrown as Kuki held Wally in her face, "Um...er, yes that's very nice Numbuh Three." She said, her eyes softening a little as she looked at Wally. Which made Wally more than a bit uncomfortable. Still, he didn't want to get on her bad side, so when she placed her hand between his ears he allowed it. He didn't purr, Kuki only got his purrs. She turned suddenly to Numbuh One, "Since I'm higher in rank than you, Numbuh One, I will be taking control of this ship!"

Wally watched with some amusement as his friend struggled with common-sense and his pride. Still, he didn't feel like watching, or hearing, an argument at the moment. With a quick meow of goodbye to Kuki he sprang down and ran for the window as if the devil himself was behind him...in a sense she was.

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Wally heaved a great sigh of pleasure. The sun felt WONDERFUL on his pelt. Besides, it gave him time to practice some awesome CAT fighting moves! He had discovered that putting all the weight on his front legs and lashing out with his back ones (with claws unsheathed) could totally wipe the smirk off of an enemies face. He was crouching down, getting ready to do this, when the snap of a twig behind him alerted him to the prescence of another.

_That's not Behemoth..._ Wally was getting used to recognizing scents. This one, he knew instantly, wasn't his new feline friend. Wally spun around with an agressive snarl, only to stop and stumble in surprise. His nose smashed painfully against the concrete of the sidewalk. (Hello , meet Wallabee Beetles!) Because while the cat wasn't Behemoth it WAS one he knew.

"Acacia?" Wally meowed in surprise, the blind she-cat's blue eyes flickered with relief. She padded up to him and pressed her nose against his in greeting. "Wha...what are ya doin' here?"

"Coming to see your progress of course." The she-cat said gently, with a soft purr. She brushed her paw against the grass and tilted her head back as though looking at the tree-house, "What a magnificent tree. It certainly enjoys your company."

"Ya can talk ta trees?" Wally meowed, then shook his head. "Never moind about tha'! There has ta be another way ta fix this curse! Ah can't fall in love!"

"You already have." Acacia said, a little distractedly, she turned her blind eyes on Wally. "I don't usually read people the wrong way, so there is no use in protesting."

"THANK YOU." Behemoth's voice startled Wally, and he looked over to see his friend padding across the lawn. "Hello Acacia, how are you doing? Good hunting?"

"Not as good as it could be I'm afraid." Acacia replied, brushing her muzzle with Behemoth's the same way she had with Wally. Wally was staring between the two cats in slight irritation. Acacia and Behemoth turned to him, as if they expected something from him by now. Which made him hesitate, but then he did what they both clearly expected since they smiled at the same exact time.

"Ah am NOT in love! BLECH!" Wally spat and gagged. Behemoth only looked vaguely amused at his friend. Wally suddenly heard what his friend had told him nearly a week ago. _"Keep tellin' yourself that."_

_I will. _Wally thought stubbornly, _I don't like no cruddy girls. Nu-uh, no way, double N-...erm...NO! _Wally lashed his tail in defiance at his friend. Suddenly Acacia lifted her head sharply, alarm spread through him as the blind she-cat meowed, "I think I heard Kuki scream in pain!"

"WHAT!?" Wally yowled, and took off acrossed the yard. Behemoth cut him off halfway acrossed, "HEY! Lemme go!"

"Kuki's fine." Behemoth soothed, "Acacia just did that to prove a point." The brown tabby flicked his tail to the silver she-cat who was looking apologetically at Wally. She padded forward and looked at him gently while Wally glared at them in annoyance.

"Don't you see Wallabee?" Acacia meowed gently. Wally just glared at her, and Behemoth snorted in frustration. A scream suddenly tore acrossed the clearing, it WAS Kuki's, and this time it was COMPLETELY real. Wally let out a yowl of surprise and sprang through the clearing. "Wait Wallabee!"

"No!" Wally yowled, jumping through the window. The screen was shut but he managed to get enough momentum to tear through it. For a moment the little cat reflected on how cool it was that he just totally broke a window. Then he remembered Kuki. The cat tore up the stairs and sprang into the living room to find...

That one of her toys had been torn open somehow. Wally had jumped down and was sitting in front of her bristling viciously, when he realized there was no danger he looked around in surprise. Everyone in the team happened to be in the room at that moment, and they all had a laugh at his expense. Kuki scooped him up gently and cuddled him, "Awww, Tiger thought I was in trouble and came to save me!"

"That cat loves you Numbuh Three." Numbuh Five said with a smile. Even Numbuh Eighty-six was smiling a little bit. Numbuh Two came over and patted Wally on the head. At the moment he didn't look to impressive, just completely and totally confused.

"Tough little Tiger." Numbuh Two chuckled, gently scratching Wally's ears. Numbuh Three placed him down and picked up her torn toy to take to the infirmary once she was sure that Wally was okay. After awhile the tiny cat was completely alone in the commons room and feeling totally dumb-founded.

_Keep telling yourself that..._

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Wally was waiting for Kuki, with his head resting lightly on his paws. Confusion still clung to his pelt like cobwebs after his daring entrance. Numbuh Eighty-six was NOT amused at all when she found out he had torn a hole in the screen. Which started an argument between her and Numbuh One. Numbuh One had pointed out that Tiger was living in HIS treehouse and the screen was HIS screen, and he could care less HOW many screens Tiger broke if he wanted to save HIS operatives.

It was all rather possessive.

So he had slunk away to be alone with his thoughts. Something very un-Wally-like. Since he didn't have very many thoughts to begin with. Wally was a spontaneous guy. Do things first, think about them later. They usually reflected on feelings he didn't even realize he had. Which was why he was so confused about that situation.

_Keep..._

"No, no, no, NO!" Wally spat, and began pacing up and down the bed. "Ah do not loike a cruddy GIRL!"

_Telling..._

He remembered how content he felt, suddenly, when Kuki would cuddle him. He never felt so safe than when he was close to her. He couldn't deny the fact that he would protect her more than he would protect Numbuh Five (just to use a girl as an example) but...that was because Numbuh Five could handle herself...right?

_Yourself..._

Wally closed his eyes and thought. He thought HARD. Harder than he EVER thought before. He remembered the times he saved Kuki from that DORKY King Sandy. He remembered how he had been FURIOUS when Numbuh Two had said that Sandy had a bad taste in girls. Why was that? He remembered the way he hated to make her cry, and how he loved to see her laugh. He remembered the time she had terrified him at Christmas time, and how she had fought so hard and bravely for HIS present. He remembered how much she had loved his gift even though it was a box of lousy french-fries.

_That..._

The little cat felt his heart thud as his brain finally caught up with it. Finally realized something part of him had known all of his life. He DID like a girl. Probably the girliest girl he even knew! He didn't just like her either, "Aw crud Ah love her!"

"FINALLY!" Behemoth yowled, startling Wally. The tom grinned at him, and twitched his brown tail in satisfaction. "You finally figured it out didn't you Wally...well...aren't you...erm, happy?"

Wally didn't know. He didn't want to be in love, but he couldn't stop himself from doing it. Wally stared behind him and heaved a tired sigh, "Ah don't know...Ah don't want to be dorky."

"Then don't think of it as something dorky." Behemoth meowed solemnly, "Here, let me put it a way that will make you happy. You care about somebody Wally. That doesn't make you weak. It makes you strong. It gives you something to protect, so you need to stand up and protect it. Got that?"

"Yeah, and what if she doesn't loike meh?" Wally meowed, a little angrily. He realized, suddenly, that he cared about that. That floored him. He was worried she wouldn't like him. A sound of frustration escaped his maw and he yowled in exasperation, "Are ya tellin' meh tha' Ah finally figured it out an' Ah can't tell her cause Ah'm a cruddy cat!?"

Behemoth winced, "Hey, cat's aren't cruddy..." The tom meowed, sounding thoroughly offended. His ears suddenly perked up, "Hey! Wait, you just did the first step of your cure! Didn't Acacia say she'd give you something if you did that?"

Wally blinked in realization and looked around for her. "Roight! Where is she!?"

"Oh...uh...she left..." Behemoth meowed, "We'll have to go to her place. Come on, we can leave now. Try not attacking the guard this time okay? I don't know if it'll be Dusk and Shadow, and they might not let us in if you go jumping around trying to claw their fur off. Ready to go?"

Wally stared over his shoulder. Ready? Ready to admit to more than his friend that he was in love? Even now he felt a slight reluctance to admit it to himself, as if some part of him were barring that from completely happening. He was surprised at the reason though. It wasn't that he was grossed out. It wasn't that he thought Kuki cruddy. No, he was afraid he was just making it up for a way out of his curse, and that he would somehow end up hurting Kuki because of it.

Of course, being the total dunder-head he is he didn't realize that proved how much he loved her already.

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_**WOOHOO! End of the chapter! Yes! Wally has finally figured it out...only it's the one thing in his life that he isn't leaping headfirst into. Because he CARES though, awww**__**...**_

**_Special thanks to Behemoth for voicing the opinion of every 3/4 fan out there with that lovely "FINALLY!" XP_**

_**So I had fun doing this. Wish me luck at Speech and Drama, I'll update as soon as I get back I promise! **_


	7. Something to Fear

_Disclaimer;_

_Own it, no, but I sure as hell wish I did. :3 Heeey, I do own Acacia and Behemoth though! That's a plus!_

_**So many reviews! It makes me so happy! :3**_

_**imasmurf93-**__** Hmmm...I really think I missed the 93 everytime but just now...Glad you like those two furballs. I love em' too. :3**_

_**clueless c-**__** XP Cheering makes me smile**_

_**Laurie43-**__** Behemoth says your welcome. Yay, two people like it. -shoves Behemoth and Acacia together-**_

_**PonyboySlashLover-**__** Like the Outsiders? Glad you like it. XD**_

_**-**__** Thank you. -updates-**_

_**sstoons3425-**__** Wow...that is impressive. -hands Wally a cookie- Thank you for the luck, I made it all the way to Semi-finals. :3 **_

_**WalkingAlong- **__**Thank you! I really like having ideas that others find different. Maybe that's why I get such strange looks sometimes. -shrugs-**_

_**CloudwatcherNumbuh7-**__** Look Behemoth, you have a fan! And YAY! I love it when I keep them in character! -strikes victory pose and is smacked-**_

_**tater06(regarding all three reviews)-**__** Thank you very much. Aww, that's so nice. Don't feel bad for not reviewing it earlier, as long as your doing it now I'm happy! :3 You think I'm a natural story-teller? Thank you so much! That makes me feel warm and fuzzy.**_

_**Sorry if I misseded anybody. Here's the next chapter! ENJOY...I hope, I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to...never mind. XD**_

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_Chapter Seven- Something to Fear_

Wally was discovering several things fairly quickly. One, just because you admit you love somebody, which he had, doesn't mean you're all that keen on telling that somebody that you do indeed love them. Two, crossing the street is dangerous and rather hard when you are a cat.

The first time they crossed the streets to get to Acacia's it had been dark. No cars had been out because it was late. Now the street was roaring with vehicles, and Wally didn't exactly want to have himself slammed very painfully into the bumper of one of them. He looked longingly at the alley acrossed the street. "Just wait for it, it's rush-hour now, so all the human adults are coming back from work."

"Ah know that." Wally snapped a little irritably.

Behemoth glanced at him, looking ever so slightly wounded. Then he turned and abruptly yowled, "Now!" And tore acrossed the road. Wally's heart lurched, and for the slightest moment he hesitated before lunging onto the black concrete. He wasn't even halfway acrossed with a terribly loud roaring filled the world around him.

Wally grit his teeth and crouched down low as car after car roared over head. He was lucky that he had stopped where he had, or he would have been crushed to death for sure. After awhile the roaring sound stopped, and Wally didn't even look. He just tore as fast as he could across that street until grass was under his paws. His breath whistled out of his lungs, and his pride was a bit wounded by the fact that he couldn't stop trembling. "Well, tha' was cruddy harder than Ah thought."

"Sorry, are you alright?" Behemoth meowed softly. Wally nodded after a moment and the big tom lead them to the alley. Before they could even enter the shaded area a cat slammed hard into Wally, sending him flying backwards. The poor Australian cat-boy was already shaken from his encounter in the street, so he was positively furious at how this cat caught him off guard enough to make him scream in surprise. (Yelp, sorry, yelp. As our Australian hot-head would clearly like to point out that boys do not scream they yelp. Sorry.)

"Cruddy watch where you're goin'!" Wally spat, and then realized a heartbeat after the words left his maw that it was the gray tom-cat, Dusk. The cat was breathing heavily, and his eyes were stretched wide with surprise. A nasty cut was in his shoulder, and Wally stared at it in shock for a moment before turning to him, "What happened to ya?"

"D-dogs!" Dusk gasped, trembling from whiskers to tail-tip. Behemoth looked around as if he expected a pack of the slavering beasts to leap from the shadows behind the gray cat. The tom shook his head, "No, back in the caves! They got in somehow!"

"WHAT!?" Both Behemoth and Wally yelled. Wally because he was trying to figure out how a dog could get through those tiny tunnels, and Behemoth because he was worried about a certain silver she-cat. Still the brown tabby's eyes lit with recognition and he gasped with horror.

"The main cavern! It has a hole in the roof!" Fear flashed in his golden eyes, and Wally spun around. Wally wasn't one for talk, he was an action kid. Or cat...whatever. Either way, he didn't like pondering things. While he could seem like a brute at times he was in the Kids Next Door. Helping others was something he often did.

"Roight! Take meh through that little tunnel ya took before ta tell Acacia we were comin'!" Wally meowed. (While the writer of this story stood off to the side with Behemoth and gaped at him for realizing so quickly that the littler tunnel would be the fastest route to get to the big cavern)

"I won't fit!" Behemoth said, "I'll go through the big tunnels, I can find my way Dusk. You don't have to fight if you don't want to, but you have to take Wally to Acacia!"

Dusk's eyes flashed with terror, and for a moment Wally thought he would have to drag the cat into the hole with him. After a moment though the gray tom nodded and dove for the hole. Wally followed after him. Dusk weaved expertly through the tunnel ahead of him, and Wally stumbled a few times. Still, this route was a straight shot to the cavern, without the hazard of crossing the water. The sound of barking soon roared around him, and Dusk froze. Wally squeezed passed him. "Roight, run away loike a cruddy coward!"

With that the tiny cat sprang from the tunnel and found himself on a tall ledge. His eyes stretched wide with surprise. There were cats EVERYWHERE. He hadn't realized Acacia had so many there. Many were leaping at the dogs, only to be driven back by slavering jaws. The dogs...there had to be a million of them. (in other words Wally couldn't remember how to count at that moment, and there were twelve.) They were deadly looking things. All black, except for the ginger on their eyebrows, paws, and muzzles. They were...pointy. Everything reminded him of sharp edges, their ears, muzzle. The only thing that didn't conform to this, but somehow added to their look of discipline, were the stumps they had for tails. He didn't know it, but he was looking at a dog commonly referred to as a doberman. While they can actually be quite friendly dogs (though any cat would instantly disagree) these ones were TRAINED to do this. Even Wally could tell that.

He looked around until he spotted Acacia. She was fighting with the others, and even though her blindness was something one often forgot due to her wise and almost magical air, she was fairing badly in a fight. Her claws found nothing but air, and the big dog she was trying to fend off was getting dangerously close to her.

With a yowl of fury Wally flung himself onto the massive animal's back. It was a thoroughly unpleasant sensation, landing on the creature. He could feel the strength of it's muscles under it's short ebony coat. He dug his claws deep into it's skin and it barked in rage. It whirled around, it's jaws snapping dangerously close to Wally's ears as it tried to get a bite. After a heartbeat it rolled onto it's back and Wally squeaked in pain as his air was forcably driven from his body. (Plus he was crushed, which was...well...slightly painful)

The dog's teeth snapped near him, and he hardly had time to note that some other cat's fangs were digging sharply into his scruff. He was hauled back, and actually felt the air of that death trap brush his muzzle as the dog's jaws closed in front of his nose. Wally sprang away the next instant, and found himself standing by Shadow.

"You alright kid?" Shadow gasped, looking at him solemnly. Wally nodded and the black cat hurled himself into the fray. Wally looked around for Acacia, she was gone! With a growl of something close to frustration he dove back into the mass of wrathing animals. He was slammed into a dog's muzzle, and before the animal could snap at him he dug his claws into it's muzzle and lunged for it's ear.

Blood flooded in his mouth, and Wally gagged. The dog howled in agony, and shook it's head. Wally held on for dear life, and hated the way those teeth snapped viciously under him. He lashed out with his claws and caught it in the eye, and Shadow was suddenly there once more on the dog's other side. The black cat dug deep into the dog's other ear. It's rumbling barks changed into whines, and it suddenly whipped around. Wally fell down hard and watched as the dog took off with it's tail between it's legs.

"One down." Shadow meowed. Wally stared at the mass of animals around him. He was a fighter, but these odds were TERRIBLE. Sure, they had numbers, but only two of the dogs had fled. How could they possibly survive this? Wally's heart lurched as he realized this. There was a strange new possibility.

Even when he fought adults, even the real crazies like Father who said they'd like to "destroy them" he knew they couldn't really kill him. If they did they'd go to jail, even he knew that. It was a strange feeling, realizing that you were in a position that could end your life. Terrifying but somehow exciting. Still, Wally felt a new fear. He didn't want to die.

Behemoth exploded from the tunnel behind him, and Wally jumped about three feet because of it. The little cat crouched down low as the huge tom flung himself into battle. The massive cat's eyes blazed with fury, and Wally realized a heartbeat later that that was helping them! Behemoth was driving the dogs back, almost completely by himself!

"Woah..." Wally meowed, and Shadow nodded in stunned agreement. The black cat soon joined the massive tabby, and soon the remaining dogs (five) were surrounded by a good twenty cats. All hissing in fury with teeth bared and claws at the ready. Four of them took off, leaving on on it's own to face these enemies. It lunged at the cats, and his teeth snapped shut on one black shape. Wally jerked to attention in surprise. "SHADOW!"

The black cat struggled vainly in the dogs grip, and it shook it's head. Wally suddenly hated himself for hanging back while his friends were fighting, but he couldn't move. _I don't want to die..._ He thought miserably. Never had he felt so terrified, so utterly helpless in his entire life. He hated himself for it too. With a passion. Behemoth's claws tore down the dog's side. It released Shadow, and the black cat fell down with an audible thud. With a yelp it turned tail, and ran for the exit.

For a moment the group of cats just stared at each other in a mixture of relief and shock. The dogs were gone...for now. A piercing wail tore through the air, and Wally jumped again in fright. Behemoth had gone from a terrifying soldier to a weeping heap of tabby fur in an instant. The brown cat's yellow eyes swam with grief as he stared at the group of felines around him. "He's dead..."

Wally whimpered, and guilt slammed into him like a physical blow. Would Shadow be alright if he had been willing to die for him? Wally's whiskers trembled as he pressed forward and he felt sick looking at Shadow's broken body. The cat had helped him TWICE, he had saved Wally's live TWICE, and Wally hadn't been able to find the courage to fight at his side even once? Wally felt a shame like no other shame suddenly burn inside of him.

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Wally watched numbly as they patted the soft earth over Shadow's body. Behemoth had rolled some stones on top of the grave, so no carrion eater could get at him. Wally suddenly longed to run back in the treehouse and hide under Kuki's bed. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, not when he was a coward.

"It was not your fault Wallabee." Acacia meowed softly, Wally looked at her in surprise. The silver cat was staring at the ground sadly, "I should have realized that we would need lookouts to guard that hole for danger. I am the cat these cat's follow, almost blindly sometimes. It is my duty to protect them, and it was not your duty to give your life for a stranger."

_But he would have given his life for me._ Wally thought miserably. Acacia suddenly smiled at him, a half-smile of one who has just noticed a glimmer of something happy in the midst of grief. "What?"

"You have finished the first step." Acacia purred, and touched her nose gently to his forehead. "I promised you a gift."

A strange feeling of warmth and agony flooded through him. Wally trembled after the feeling passed, "What was tha?"

Acacia leaned forward and whispered softly in his ears. He almost didn't catch the words, but his eyes stretched wide with wonder when he did. Confusion swamped Wally, and he looked at her in surprise. The silver tabby shuffled her paws a little guiltily, "I...I'm not sure if it will actually work Wallabee. So do not do anything rash with this gift. Do you understand? Chances are it will not, but in the state I am now it is all I can give you."

Wally opened his mouth to protest this (the writer knows you do not know what his gift is, and is laughing evilly for it because it's a surprise) what did she mean? Why even try and give a gift that won't work? But the she-cat was turning to Behemoth, "I owe you more than I can ever give you, my good friend."

Behemoth's eyes flashed with longing and pain, and he pressed his muzzle gently to hers, "It was nothing."

"I know how you hate to-" Acacia began but Behemoth cut her off by taking his muzzle away abruptly. He shook his head, even though she couldn't see, and stared at the ground where Shadow would stay until nature took it's course.

"When it's for others, I don't mind." Behemoth meowed solemnly. The big tabby nudged Wally with his nose, "Come on kiddo, you're friends are going to be worried enough as it is, what with you covered in so many battle scars and dings. Besides, you have to finish breaking your curse."

"Yes Wallabee. The second step..."

"Prove Ah would sacrifoice mah loife for the one Ah love..." Wally whispered, and his heart tightened in fear. How could he possibly ever prove that if he wasn't sure he could do it himself? Awhile ago he may have said it without a doubt, his life for Kuki's, easy right? But...life was something that one had a hard time giving. That fear...the mind, the heart, the soul, it automatically longs for life. Death is something all things fear, and Wally had found out the hard way that he was terrified of it. Which was frustrating, since he was hardly scared of anything. (except for spankings...and maybe the occassional brussel sprout or two)

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The walk back to the treehouse was terribly quiet. Even after crossing the busy street. Wally's mind was churning with so many thoughts that it made him dizzy. (Hey, he got the occasional thought or two sometimes, but there were like THIRTY crowding his head. A new record for him!)

So as his paws met the soft grass he felt a flood of overwhelming relief. Home. He was safe here, or as safe as he could be. He couldn't die here, right? Wally tipped his head to the side, and a sense of...something wrong descended over him. Behemoth must have felt it too, because the big cat wasn't moving.

"Wally..." Behemoth meowed, "Dusk...he wasn't exactly running away from that fight was he? I mean, I don't blame him for being surprised, but he looked BEYOND surprised..."

Wally's head spun some more. Dusk had been familiar in a way. A gray cat, cat...he remembered the unpleasant little adventure he had had, trapped in the psycho cat lady's house for what seemed like a century. Had Dusk been one of THOSE cats? Wally hadn't thought of that before. (It was surprising he was thinking of it NOW which served to confuse him even MORE)

"Those dogs ran away awfully quickly." Behemoth meowed solemnly, staring at the sky, "It was almost like it was something...to distract us...or...or you."

"Tha don't make sense!" Wally meowed. (Doesn't Wally...) His tail lashed twice, "Who would know Ah was a cat!?"

Behemoth shook his head and shrugged but Wally's heart was clenched with worry now. The little cat sprang from his place and into the window he had torn the screen from earlier. Behemoth followed after him with a rather loud ripping noise. Wally's paws pounded the floor, and an unpleasant scent slammed into him from all sides. One that he recognized almost instantly.

Smoke.

The place wasn't on fire, but it had been. He could see burn marks everywhere, and as he entered the commons he saw his friends all beat up. Their clothing had been burned and torn, they all had cuts and bruises. Numbuh One's eye was black, and Numbuh Two had a deep cut in his cheek. Numbuh Five's hand was burned rather badly...

"Where. Is. Kuki." Wally hissed, the three kids turned to look at him in surprise. Numbuh Two picked Wally up and the little cat hissed in fury.

"Numbuh Five can't believe it." Numbuh Five said, "Why would father..."

Wally's heart pounded with terror, she didn't have to finish. Even for him. He didn't want her to, but she did, "take away Numbuh Three? Numbuh Five thought he hated all of us..."

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The woman grimaced as she tightly wrapped the rope around that little girl's hands. The poor kid was slumped forward, unconcious. She sighed inwardly, and this had all happened because she had decided to say a few words to scare a little boy. It wasn't like she ever expected the curse to WORK, but work it had.

That day, when that Australian hooligan had been so terribly rude she had lost her temper. So she did what she always did when she lost her temper, she said one of the 'magic' phrases her Gammy used to say to her when she was a snot-nosed child. The hag lost her temper quite a bit, especially as she got older. Turned out that she really was magic, and that little boy passed out after she cursed him. Afraid she had terrified him to the point of unconciousness she rushed to his side, only to find that he was an unconcious little kitten. She had fled then.

It got worse. The little boys clothing had been found, and there was an investigation. They thought he was dead, and some bystander had noticed her talking to the brat before he disappeared. Some OTHER bystander had noticed her poking at his clothes, and that brought the police flocking to her door. She should have played nice granny, but it had irritated her so to see those men at her door. So she yelled at them and said the brat deserved whatever he got, and that she wished the same fate to whatever ilk he had running around.

She had been arrested on the site for "disorderly conduct" and it was only because of Father that she escaped. He had taken interest in this case, so she had found herself spilling the entire story to him.

Now she was stuck here working for that rude man. The woman snarled at the open air. She hated rudeness, it was terribly annoying. The man's brats were almost worse than him, placing a facade of "behaved children" over their cruel intentions. BAH! She didn't need this, but then, she didn't need her house to mysteriously burn down. She didn't need to be back in jail either, she was too old for that.

The footsteps behind her made her freeze, she turned around and was reminded vividly of the days when she had been a child. Smacked around by her grandmother's rough hand. She bowed low, "Greetings Father, the child is secured, I've made sure of it. Nobody could get out of these ropes without help."

The woman looked around, not that help, or the help that Father thought would come for the poor kid could get there. They were on a concrete slab in the very center of a pool. (she and the girl) Father had a boat, of course, but the woman would remain here with that brat probably. What SHE didn't understand was why the man was so set against the kid breaking the curse, and how he was so sure that it was this little girl that would help him do it. He had even gone so far as to buy ten or thirteen trained dogs to, get this, jump into a hole filled with cats. Then again Father was extremely wealthy. Still, with a nervous twitch of her hands she found herself asking the question that had been on her mind, "Tell me, Father-sir, what is it that would drive you to keep this child as a feline. So far as to...kidnap a little girl?"

"What drives me?" Father cackled, a dry cackle of one that is truly insane. He had to be, chasing after children and blaming them for ruining his life when he was rather quite well-off compared to many people in the world. "My drive is the fact that those snot nosed brats have bothered me for too long! My drive is the fact that I can get rid of ALL the Kids Next Door! All I have to do is turn them into cats! That little boy has been part of that group for too long, he has kicked my posterier more times than I care to admit, and I'm going to make him suffer for it."

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_**Poor Shadow, it was necessary though, his death. So I could make it harder for Wally to break the curse. He's in kitty-cat Heaven now...or, you know, wherever dead imaginary cats go...**_

_**Dun, dun, duuuun! Father has Kuki!**_

_**Of course Father is in this fic, pshaw, he's like the biggest baddy in KND world!**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**Plus he HAS to be clinically insane. I mean REALLY come on, what grown man spends that much money on trying to destroy children? Messed up! And is Wally misreading Father? Something I'd expect Wallabee to do, misread someone, I think Father would TOTALLY kill a kid if he could get away with it. Besides, the guy's got, oodles of cash, he could just bail himself out...wait, there isn't bail for murder, is there? -stares off into space- **_

_**I've just figured out why Wally is so smart in this fiction at times...**_

_**He totally stole my brain...**_

_**Reviews are much appreciated XP**_


	8. What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong

_Disclaimer;_

_The Hag is mine (Will she ever get a name?) Behemoth is mine, Shadow WAS mine -weeps-, and Acacia is mine. Everything else is the property of KND creator people and all their lawyers. Don't sue me pwease..._

_**Oh my gosh it's Chapter Eight and I'm already almost done with this fanfiction. -stares in shock- **_

_**Yeah, sorry, it's going to be kind of short...**_

_**Really short actually. I apologize for that...**_

_**But I might make a sequel, if you guys would read it that is! I've had so much fun writing this! What would the sequel be about? I've got no idea. XP**_

_**Here's your second update for the night. I know right!? I was gonna explode without writing the next chapter.**_

_**Really, like TRULY explode...**_

_**Okay, fine, not REALLY...**_

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_Chapter Eight- What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong_

Wally sprang from Numbuh Two's arms and tore through the ruined treehouse. Behemoth yowled with surprise, and tripped over the small cat. Wally ignored this, and jumped outside. A look of determidation flashed in his green eyes, and Behemoth followed after him. The big cat finally stopped him about halfway down the block. "Where are you going!?"

"Ta the Delioghtfuls mansion." Wally growled, "Ta save Kuki."

"All by yourself?" Behemoth meowed, Wally only lashed his tail twice before setting down the sidewalk once more. The mansion was on top of a rather large hill, and as they began to walk the incline Behemoth suddenly meowed with surprise, "Acacia?"

"I felt there would be trouble." The silver she-cat meowed grimly, "So I came here, to repay you, Behemoth, even if it is to help your friend more. I apologize if I cannot do anything better than that."

"Come on." Behemoth said, sounding a little embarassed, Wally didn't stop to say much more than a grunt that could have been registered as a hi. Acacia padded after the two toms until they reached the gate. Wally slunk through, and the three cats made their way through the yard. Acacia was actually rather helpful here, since she somehow knew where all the traps that would trigger alarms or lasers were. (Yes, lasers, apparently Father doesn't like little animals on his grass. HEEEY, like Over the Hedge...)

They reached the building without incident, and Wally stared at the massive thing for a very long time. After a moment he backed up as far as he could and gathered himself on his haunches. "Wait, Wallabee-" Acacia started, but when Wally gets something set in his mind he's gonna do it. Or try to. And try he did. The little cat hurled himself at the window, which was rather painful since it didn't do much more than crack under his pathetic attempt. But it cracked, and the little Australian stubbornly padded back and took a running leap at it once more.

This time it cracked some more. Wally's head was pounding a little painfully, but he gathered himself up for one more try. This time Behemoth joined him, and with a grim nod the two cat's flung themselves at the window.

The sound of shattering glass split through the air. Wally and Behemoth tumbled onto the glass cloaked floor, (well, WALLY tumbled, Behemoth landed on his feet) the two cats stared at each other in amazement. "ALROIGHT!" Wally yowled in triumph as Acacia sprang gracefully through and hissed as the glass dug into her pads. Which happened to him when he stood up, that actually hurt pretty bad too.

A warning bark rumbled over them, and the three cats turned to see the dogs. Wally stared in shock, Acacia turned with a yowl of surprise, "RUN!" and Behemoth picked Wally up and tore after her. The three ran swiftly through the mansion. Wally dropped to the ground and winced at the pain in his paws. Acacia pressed herself flat to the floor and slid under a couch. The two toms soon followed her, and Wally stared at the space, expecting slavering jaws to appear there at any moment.

After what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes Acacia relaxed. She began to lick at her paws to get the glass out, and after that helped Behemoth out as well. The she-cat's nose ran through his thick tabby pelt, and she pried the shards from his brown fur and spat them on the ground. After him she helped Wally. They said nothing during this time, too afraid they would alert the dogs, but after awhile, when Acacia was delicately scooting around the small pile of glass, Wally began to scoot out. "Where are you going?" She hissed.

"Out." Wally said curtly, and poked his muzzle from their hiding place. The dogs were nowhere in sight. Wally gulped from the scare, the image of Shadow suddenly clear in his mind. Still, he turned to his friends, "Come on, let's go."

"Right." Behemoth agreed, and after a bit of struggling he joined the little cat. Acacia quietly followed them, and the three looked around. Wally started down the hallway once more, there were so many twists and turns. "It's like a maze in here."

"Crud." Wally hissed in warning. The sound of dog-footfalls suddenly thundered around them. Horror tore through him, and he turned to see them, the slavering mutts, all at the end of the hall. The lead dog bayed in triumph, and Wally turned around and pelted down the hallway.

The next corner had them trapped, Wally hissed and Behemoth swore. Acacia, however, was swinging her head about wildly. After a moment she yowled in triumph, "THERE!" Her nose was pointing to a vent, one that the cover had slipped from. The blind she-cat sprang into it, and Wally attempted to follow her.

His paws skimmed the rim of it, but he lost his hold and crashed down on top of Behemoth. The dogs would be on them any second, and his heart was pounding with terror. Behemoth shoved his muzzle underneath Wally's sore paws once more, and tottered on his hindlegs the same way he had when Wally had wanted to get on the computer. Wally sprang, and this time landed inside the vent.

"Hurry!" Acacia meowed desperately, Behemoth gathered his haunches but the dogs were there! Wally yowled with surprise as the biggest one suddenly sprang at his friend. Behemoth jumped back but was cut off from his only escape, the lead dog now blocking his route to the vent. The other dogs swarmed behind him. "Fight Behemoth! Fight them!"

Behemoth looked around, and Wally's heart pounded. Of all the cats, surely his friend would be able to fight these dogs? They were eyeing him warily as he placed himself against a wall (not the one with the vent in it) and stared at them. A helpless look entered his yellow eyes and he glanced up at them. "I can't Acacia..."

"WHAT!?" Wally meowed in disbelief, his voice tore through the shaft and the dogs looked around wildly. Except the lead dog, his eyes stayed trained on Behemoth, on his prey. Another dog noticed them in the vent and started barking excitedly. Behemoth stared around him in grim acceptance.

"Please Behemoth, they don't count, they're dogs!" Acacia wailed, the tabby shook his head.

"I swore that I would never fight for myself." Behemoth replied solemnly, "Not even to save my life. You have to go though, both of you. Wally, get to Kuki."

"No." Wally whimpered, tears flooded his eyes and panic gripped him. He wanted to jump down there, stand by his friend. Why wouldn't he fight? What did it matter if he swore something, and why would he ever swear that? The dogs had suddenly lost interest in the quarry they couldn't catch. They turned to face Behemoth, "If ya won' fight for yourself then fight for meh! I need your help! Please!"

"No you don't." Behemoth meowed, Wally yowled in terror as the dogs sprang on his friend. The big tabby was suddenly swallowed by a writhing mass of black fur. Acacia wailed in panic.

"Behemoth!? Behemoth!? Where are you! What's going on Wallabee!? What's happening!?" Wally tore himself from the opening of the vent and pelted down the shaft. Acacia followed after his thudding pawsteps, wailing like a lost kitten the entire way. "Behemoth! Behemoth!"

"Shhh..." Wally hissed, Acacia's tone dropped but she continued to repeat Behemoth's name. Wally's heart wrenched with agony, and anger. So much anger. His claws scraped the metal underpaw and he had to bite back a yowl of fury. Behemoth had been his friend, one of the best ones he'd ever had. Now he was gone. He wouldn't cry, not yet, he'd change pain into anger so he could hurt Father in a way he had never hurt anybody before.

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He had to leave Acacia alone, she wouldn't get up and kept moaning in sadness. Everytime his heart wrenched with guilt and agony Wally got angrier and angrier. Every pawstep was trembling with the weight of his rage.

Even he had never been this angry.

This man, Father, he had killed his friend, and he had the girl he loved. He had never wanted to kill somebody before, but now he did. He wanted revenge. He wanted to make Father pay for daring to bring him here. Wally was a little afraid of himself because of that.

The little cat jumped into Father's study, stealthily. The man was sitting at his desk, and being a human he couldn't hear the soft pawsteps of the one thing that wanted to kill him the most at the moment. So the man was startled, surprised, and genuinely scared as Wally's claws dug deep into his face in fury. Father yelled in surprise, then recognition, "YOU!"

"Yes meh!" Wally shrieked, yowled at the top of his lungs. A vicious yowl of an animal that was out for blood. Wally's fangs bit deep into the man's cheek and he roared with anger. Fire suddenly surged beneath Wally's paws, burning them, adding to the pain of his cuts from the glass. Adding to his anger. He dug his claws in deeper, bit harder.

"LET GO!" The man howled, grabbing him by the tail. Pain tore up his spine, and Wally was torn from his face. He felt a little satisfied at the ghastly wounds that marked the man's face. Even through that black and evil aura he could see them, painful and bright against the dark background.

That was all he had time to feel ANYTHING about really, because the next instant he was soaring through the air. One can throw cats easier than children, and Wally's head slammed hard into the wall behind him. He staggered to his paws, the pain that burned through them made him wince. Anger pounded in his ears, the world swam around him. He stumbled, and passed out on the carpet floor.

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_**(Wiiiith Kuki)**_

Conciousness slowly returned to her, and the young girl blinked woozily. A woman was hovering uncomfortably close, still, the girl merely grinned, "HIYA LADY!"

"Wha-what?" The woman, she wasn't very pretty. Kuki decided this was something that should be stated. Since...well, it was the truth.

"WOOOOW! You're oooone UGLY lady! Why are you so ugly lady, are you a witch? You look like a witch!" Kuki attemtped to kick her feet, but found them consequently bound to the chair she was sitting on. How irritating. The girl frowned at this, and realized that her hands too, which would usually be waving about to express her words more clearly, were tied to the chair. "Heeey, how come I'm tied up!? Are we playin' a gaaame?"

"No, you little brat!" The woman snapped, Kuki frowned. She didn't like her, she was mean. The door suddenly swung open, and Kuki stared in surprise. Father was there, the woman at her side stared too, "You got him?"

"Indeed." Father said, and Kuki realized that he had her kitty! Anger flooded through her, and she struggled against the ropes that held her to the chair. She also noticed that Father was hurt, REALLY hurt. The man got into a boat (hey, look at all that water, some part of Kuki's mind suddenly put in) and stopped about halfway through. There was a cage dangling there, and he threw Tiger inside so hard that it shook on it's chain.

"TIGER! YOU LET HIM GO!" Kuki roared, displaying her temper at full blast. The cage was shut and locked, still swaying over the water. "What do you waaant?" She whined pathetically.

"Nothing from you." Father said darkly, stepping onto the concrete slab she was on, "Except pain."

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**_

_**(Back to Wally...)**_

The ground was moving sickeningly underneath him. So sickeningly, in fact, that he felt like he would throw up. Which is what he did. Not all that pleasant. Wally moaned and opened his eyes. His paws were on fire, his head throbbing, and his heart...it hurt. He wasn't a guy for emotions but...

"Oh yeah..." Wally meowed, suddenly the brunt of Behemoth's death slammed into him and he was crying. He hardly ever cried. Wally crouched in his cage and looked around with blurry eyes. After a moment he realized where he was, or, figured that out. A cage, that was the first thing he noticed. He was in the air, which is why it was swaying. (though he didn't make that connection himself) The cage was attached to a chain that hung down from the ceiling. There was also quite a bit of water below him, and..."KUKI!"

"TIGER!" Kuki yelled, a look of relief on her face. For him, Wally felt a little warm but then he remembered Behemoth. Now he'd failed her too, because Father was standing by her grinning evilly at him. No. Wally choked on anger and fear. Now he couldn't do anything. He'd gotten his friend killed because he was too rash, he'd failed Kuki because he was too rash. This was all his fault.

"Wow, I guess I lied." The words startled Wally, and his eyes ran along the wall to a vent. Surprise coarsed through him, followed by a relief so great that he almost cried with joy, "I guess you really DO need my help."

"BEHEMOTH!"

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_**YAY! That's right, he's okay! Did I scare you? Sorry if I did, it was to make it a little more exciting. I couldn't possibly kill Behemoth though, I luffles him way too much.**_

_**There may be two or three chapters left, but I'm almost done.**_

_**Dun, dun, duuuun...again...**_

_**XP Reviews, I love those. Thanks. **_


	9. Caged

_Disclaimer:_

_Don't_

_Own_

_It_

_Behemoth is Mine though_

_Acacia Too_

_And the Hag lady I guess_

_And the plot_

_**Next Chapter! -flies in all excited like-**_

_**Only because I'm bored...**_

_**And I feel like poo...**_

_**So I want to write to make me not feel like poo.**_

_**Plus I like you guys. You review for me. :3**_

_**Which, I think, is why I'm updating so fast.**_

_**-pats you all on the back-**_

_**Threw some MAJOR 2/5 in here, mostly from Two's thoughts and such. Cause I love him. XP A bit of a hint towards something 1/5ish, but only cause Two's getting a little green-eyed with envy. -cackles-**_

_**Now for your reviews!!**_

_**clueless c- That he is. **_

_**Laurie43- See Behemoth? People LOVE you...that's why you get a spotlight in the next few chappies! **_

_**DragonsRuleYourDreams12- Sorry I frustrate you...or, uh, thank you I frustrate you? -confused herself- Erm...Here's your update. -hands-**_

_**PoisonChrysell- Thank you! XP Yeah, you better watch out for those cats. If you ask me if there is any animal that would ever have the possibility of a high level of intelligence it would be cats. :3**_

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_Chapter Nine- Caged_

"BEHEMOTH!" Wally yowled, the massive tom could see the cat tremble with excitement and relief in his cage. (Yes, this is more or less from Behemoth's point of view) This surprised him. Was it possible that Wally thought of him as...a friend? A real friend? When most cats fled from him because of his size?

Yes, Behemoth was smarter than Wally. Yes, he could safely get through a dark alley filled to the brim with snarling cats without lifting a claw. He was smart in so many ways, but the one thing that he couldn't see, or believe, was that he had friends. Not because he was mean, or because he didn't like being friendly himself of course. He just...didn't expect it to ever happen to him, since he went through life without them so long.

Acacia didn't count because she felt she was in debt to him for the time he saved her from the human cage place, the pound. He didn't think Wally counted because the little cat, the human boy, needed somebody to guide him through his new world. So he was surprised that Wally would be so relieved to see him. (He doesn't realize they like him as a friend either...) He thought of THEM as friends, he loved making friends even if they wouldn't really want him as one. (What, not want you Behemoth? You're so big and cuddly though...) It was in his nature to be compassionate.

"Shhhh..." Behemoth whispered, for the evil looking human and old woman were looking at Wally now. "There is no reason for you to worry about me. I'm a little hurt is all."

A little was an understatement, his shoulder had been torn open and he had only just managed to stop the bleeding. (By stealing some blankets and tearing out the fluff in the middle with his claws to press against the wound) Now his mind was spinning. Still, the little cat in the cage trembled with irritation and fury now.

"Not worry!? Ah worry 'cause you're mah friend ya cruddy idgit!" Wally lashed his tail several times and glared viciously at Behemoth, who just blanched. He had a friend? A real friend!? His heart soared, but he calmed down instantly. His 'new' friend was in a cage, and he had to figure out a way to get him out soon.

"Sorry, okay." Behemoth said, fighting the grin of amusement that wanted to make it's way onto his muzzle. Yet Wally wasn't finished with him quite yet.

"An' Acacia's worried too! She wouldn't move afteh ya decided ta freak us out like tha!" Wally yowled, raged really. Behemoth marveled at his ability to be cranky. He himself tried to take a more positive approach to life. (Says the guy who can't believe he has any friends, sheesh, his judge of character is actually rather poor.)

"Acacia...is worried?" Behemoth said, thinking of the pretty she-cat made him feel a pang of worry. He didn't want her sad or worried over him, he certainly wasn't worth it. (Writer points to phrase about taking a positive approach and coughs) "I should find her. Maybe we can work together to get you out Wally."

"Roight." Wally meowed, and looked down at the man, "That's Father."

"Your dad?" Behemoth meowed in surprise.

"No! He's jus' called tha'." Wally yowled, as though the mere thought disgusted him. Behemoth shook his head and chuckled. Yet he felt a coil of fear wrap around his belly as he stared down at the man. Which made him realize how very ironic it was that his first real friend would be this human turned into a cat.

Behemoth didn't hate anything, but the closest to hate he ever got was the feeling he had for humans. They terrified him, because when he had been a kitten the family he lived in liked hitting him. And cornering him, and leaving him alone. He hated being alone. So humans were scary, and of all the things he could have truly befriended it was this aggressive boy here. Behemoth smiled a little crookedly. "Alright, I'll go find Acacia now..."

"Wait!" Behemoth stopped, angling his ears in surprise at the little cat. The tom was staring at him almost calmly (not something Behemoth saw the kid do very often) after awhile he said softly, "Behemoth...whoi won' you foight for yourself? An' how come ya changed your mind?"

The big tabby twitched an ear. "I don't fight because I'm big. I don't fight because I used to all the time, and I hurt someone very special to me." He vividly pictured his small brother, hurt and scarred. Terrified of him. The abuse from his humans had made Behemoth mean for awhile, he hated remembering that, "I swore that I would never fight unless it was to help somebody else...and...and when you left...well...I decided you needed me, or I decided I would fight if only to find you and make sure you were okay."

Wally's head was tipped to one side, but Behemoth didn't stay for anymore questions. He turned and sped into the darkness. He had to find Acacia, and make sure she wasn't hurt or too sad. He didn't really think anybody would care about him if he was gone.

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_**(-cuddles Hoagie-)**_

Hoagie Pennywhistle Gilligan Jr. was incredibly nervous. Maybe it was just his over-active imagination, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to go down. Something even worse than just a simple kidnapping from their arch-nemesis. So maybe that was why he was so frustrated with Numbuh One at the moment.

The leader was taking painstaking measures to plan out how they would get Numbuh Three back. Too painstaking, it was taking a kajillion and a half years! Hoagie grumbled a little irritably to himself, usually he was content with sitting back and letting Numbuh One think out what they would do. It often helped in the long run. At the moment though...

"Numbuh Five thinks time is a factor." Abby said, Hoagie felt a rush of relief towards the dark-skinned girl. So he wasn't the only one that was feeling so antsy now.

Numbuh One's eyes narrowed, Hoagie could tell because the leader was looking at Abby over the rim of his sunglasses at the moment. He was seriously considering her words, something Hoagie knew he wouldn't do for anybody but Abby. Which made him feel incredibly jealous. The heavy-set boy grimaced a bit, and looked away.

Why jealous? It was easy. Since the day Hoagie met Abigail Lincoln he'd been over the moon for her. (Haha, over the moon and he's a pilot, get it? That was for you Hoagie) It was an understatement calling what he had for the calm, level-headed member of the team a crush. It was WAY more than a crush, maybe at first it had been that simple infatuation but it definitely was something more now. Every day he liked her even more. Heck, it could have been love.

He was only a kid for Pete's sake!

"Numbuh Two!" Numbuh One yelled, jerking the boy from his rather deep thoughts. Embarassment flooded his cheeks with color, and Hoagie laughed a little nervously. Even though his two friends couldn't possibly guess what he had been thinking. "If you'd like to pay attention now, what is the fastest thing that can get us to the mansion? We're storming the place and getting Numbuh Three back."

"Sorry, guess I had my head up in the clouds..." Hoagie said with a bit of a sheepish grin. This resulted in a lovely display of face-palming by the beautiful Abigail Lincoln, that Hoagie honestly hardly noticed. Hoagie's mind whipped through every flyable machine he had created recently. One stuck out, and an almost evil grin made it's way across his pudgy little face. "I've got just the thing."

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_**(Behemoth again...)**_

The massive tom-cat had decided he hated vents. They were slippery, they all looked the same, and terribly echoey when you called for somebody. It was hard to look for anything too, because he kept getting hopelessly turned around. How irritating. The cat lashed his tail in frustration and glared around him. He was beginning to feel rather like his hot-headed pal.

That was around the time he heard her. It was before he even saw her, thanks to the way sound carried in the vents, but the whimpering noises was definitely his friend. Guilt suddenly swamped him, surely she wasn't crying over HIM. He wasn't worth it. Still, the big tom rounded the corner to find the silver she-cat crouched on the cold metal floor. "Acacia..."

Those ears twitched, and stood straight. Acacia's sobs stopped in mid-throat, and her head whipped around to his direction. She was standing so still that for a heart-beat Behemoth wondered if she had died because of the shock. "Behemoth?"

"Yeah, it's me." The tom-cat assured her. Acacia got to her paws and stumbled to his side, her muzzle brushed gently against his making his fur tingle there. "You okay?"

Then she did something that surprised him. Acacia was gentle, sweet, kind. She would fight as best as she could to protect those that followed her, but she didn't believe in violence. So when she cuffed him (rather hard, he would like to add) upside the head not once, but THREE times, the large tom was quite surprised. So surprised in fact, that he hardly registered what she was saying. Her fur was fluffed out and her tail twitched in utter outrage at him. "You stupid, stupid, stupid tom! How could you do that to us!? I understand your past makes it hard for you to lift your claws to defend yourself but didn't you ever once think that you'd be hurting us even more if you died there!? How would have Wallabee lived! He would have eventually blamed himself, I blamed myself! Why did you do that! Don't EVER scare me like that again or I'll tear your fur off myself!"

Behemoth gaped at her a little dumbly for a moment before chuckling. He couldn't help it, to be honest with you. Acacia's cloudy-blue eyes, narrowed in anger, suddenly closed as she let the laugh wash over her. She pressed her muzzle to his and heaved a sigh of great relief, "I'm sorry, I promise I won't ever do that again."

"Good." Acacia replied, her gentle tone returning once more. Those beautiful blue eyes that couldn't see anything opened to the darkness only she could see. Behemoth watched in a mixture of awe and amusement as the pretty cat padded passed him the way he had come, "Now let's go. We have a little boy to help out, don't we?"

It was around that time that Behemoth realized he had fallen in love with her.

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_**(**__**Wally Now)**_

Wally hated the way the cage swayed. It was making him feel very sick to his stomach. He thought he would throw up, which is something that he very nearly did. Or would have done, if it wasn't for the fact that he would rather not have a pile of regurgitated food in his small cage. It was small, so cramped that he could hardly turn around without bumping his nose against the bars. The young cat...boy...person stuck his paws through the bars and attempted to hook his claws in the latch that held the door shut. Not that that would help much, since he was about six feet away from WATER. He couldn't swim. (Clearly this is before operation: P.O.O.L., which the writer totally watched this afternoon and ADORED. Anybody ELSE notice that the thing that made Wally realize that they were Negative Numbuh's was Negative Numbuh Three? He noticed she wasn't Kuki!)

He growled under his breath, great, how was he ever going to get out of this situation. "Oh kitty cat." Wally's ears flattened against his skull, and he turned his vivid green eyes on his capture. If looks could kill that man would be pushing daisies right now, Wally had never put so much hatred in one look. It was a little effective too, Father winced ever-so-slightly. Still the man gestured to Kuki, poor Kuki, tied to the chair at his side.

"What do ya want?" Wally snarled, though the man of course couldn't understand him. At all. Lucky Wally.

The man didn't reply, because...well, he didn't understand Wally's question. Still, his unintentional answer pretty much drove the poor cat into a frenzy. He held up his hand, and Wally noticed something that made him feel so many emotions at once that he very nearly passed out once more on the floor of his cage. Panic, worry, love, fear, and rage. Wally slammed his shoulder against the bar of the cage and it pitched sickeningly over the water.

Father had a gun.

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_**(Kuki)**_

Kuki whimpered in terror. Even she knew when was the time to be frightened, and when was the time to be cheerful. This situation she was in right now, offered very little room for optimism. The little girl stared at Father, truly noting how incredibly insane this man had to be. Clearly insane. The guy was goading a CAT for crying out loud, and beyond that he was holding a pistol.

Kuki shuddered a little, and the old lady beside her cleared her throat. "F-Father sir, I-I don't think that's such a smart idea...you see, that's...that's MURDER..." The woman was wringing her hands, and looking at Kuki nervously. Father suddenly burst into flames. (Unfortunately this did not burn him up, as he often spontaneously caught fire whenever he was pissed)

"You dare question ME!" The man roared, it wasn't a question so much as a statement. Kuki whimpered, and felt terribly bad for the hag, even though she wasn't the one who would probably get shot in this situation. Father turned his dark face towards the hanging cage where poor Tiger was yowling in utter rage. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to my face you little brat, but first I'm going to kill your little friend here. So you can know that this is all your fault."

Kuki's whimpering turned to tears. Her heart thudded with fear, and panic gripped her like a real creature's claws. _I wish Wally was here._ She thought, because Wally would save her if he was here. He was her hero, and he would never let her die.

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_**(Aaand, Wally again)**_

Wally's heart was pounding almost harder than Kuki's. The man was insane. He HAD to be insane. Wally yowled with fury and slammed himself against the cage, it pitched under his weight. The world spun around him, and Father laughed at him below. "Stop moving so much kitty, or you won't be able to see what I do to your pretty little friend."

"Let. Meh. OUT!" Wally yowled, "Ya cruddy coward!"

"Wally!" Wally's head snapped around in surprise, and he looked down at Kuki. She was sobbing for HIM. Pain tore through his heart. The girl crying, she was shaking. She was SCARED and he couldn't do anything about it. A feeling of powerlessness swamped him from whiskers to tail-tip.

"Ah'm here Kooks." Wally meowed gently (called her Kooks...) sticking his paws through the bars of his cage. "Ah'll save ya! Ah promise!"

"Wallabee, over here!" Acacia's voice surprised the cat into looking sharply at the vent. Behemoth and her were standing at the edge, and with a mighty heave the big tabby shoved the cover off. It splashed into the water below, alerting Father to their prescence. The man yelled something in surprise. "Wallabee, we've got a plan."

"I'm going to break you out." Behemoth meowed, he turned to Acacia, "Get back, I'll need room. Wally, the cage probably won't hold, we're going to hit the water. I know you can't swim but...you've got to trust me, got that?"

Wally felt a flash of fear as he stared down at the water, but he nodded his head. Behemoth wouldn't let him die. He knew that. The big tabby dipped his head, and both cats suddenly vanished from view. The entire room fell incredibly silent, even Father seemed to be waiting to see what the cats would do. Suddenly, with a loud caterwaul, Behemoth launched himself from the depths of the vent. The tom landed heavily on the outside of Wally's cage, his claws hooking around the bars to keep himself attached. The chain groaned under the big tom's weight.

"Hurry Behemoth!" Acacia yowled, "The cage is going to fall!"

Behemoth leaned down and gripped the latch of the cage in his jaws. The tom bit down, hard, and the latch suddenly pulled free! The door swung open and Wally let out a yowl of triumph. Just as he jumped for the opening the chain groaned monstrously under the weight of big Behemoth and little Wally. It wasn't a sturdy chain, rather thin actually, made for an itsy bitsy kitten not a big cat like Behemoth. It snapped suddenly and Wally yowled with surprise as they plummeted towards the water.

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_**Chapter Nine is done! On to chapter Ten! **_

_**Will Wally survive? Or will he drown?**_

_**What about Kuki?**_

_**And will the rest of Sector V get there in time to see ANY action!?**_

_**XP I dunno...**_

_**Actually I do...**_

_**I just don't want to tell you yet.**_

**_On a completely random note..._**

**_I LOOOVE Hoagie's middle name. :3_**


	10. Face Fear

_Disclaimer;_

_Not mine_

_Of course, Acacia and Behemoth are_

_So is the plot_

_That original kid-changing into a feline idea, MINE! -places big stamp on it-_

_I'm feeling a bit possessive. XP_

_**RAWR! I've decided that there is a telivision show I just can't watch. It makes me feel uncomfortable and awkward...**_

_**Secret Life of an American Teenager...or Secret-Teen...**_

_**No offense to anybody who likes that show or anything like that.**_

_**My sister happens to adore it.**_

_**But I've noticed that not a single episode I have seen of it has passed without me feeling incredibly uncomfortable.**_

_**Some of the things they talk about. -shudders-**_

_**To each their own I suppose :3**_

_**Anyways, after that random speal, on with the next chapter!**_

_**My goodness! It's in the double-digits! -claps paws-**_

_**Ps.**_

_**YAY 2/5! XP**_

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_Chapter 10- Face Fear_

It was like a physical thing, striking that water. It surged around the bars of the cage and slammed Wally onto it's side. Pain flared inside of him, his body automatically attempted to suck in a breath of air only to fill his lungs with water. Panic swirled around him. _I'm going to die!_

Then teeth met his scruff, and he was somehow pulled out of his metallic death-trap. His head burst through the water to the surface and Wally gulped at the air in desperation. His claws hooked Behemoth's pelt (clearly he was the one who had rescued him) and Wally suddenly found himself on the massive tom-cat's shoulders. Behemoth's head was soaked, and his massive paws churned desperately at the water. A miserable meowing sound escaped his friends mouth, "I hate water, hate it, hate it, haaate it. You know, I've heard that some cats actually LIKE swimming!? Blech."

"Behemoth! Kuki!" Wally meowed, looking desperately for the concrete slab. He heard his friend grumble something about 'ungrateful little' but the big cat began swimming, albeit a little awkwardly, towards the place Wally's friend was. As it was, Father had no idea where the two cats were. The evil man was cursing rather loudly and staring in the water.

"Where'd they go!?" He roared, Wally jumped off of Behemoth's back and crouched down against the concrete. Fury pulsed through him. That man WOULD pay for taking Kuki and scaring her like this. Behemoth snuck over to Kuki, and began to gnaw on the ropes that held her to the chair.

And Wally stood frozen with fear. His green eyes locked on the gun, and his heart pounded in his ears so loudly that he felt he couldn't possibly hear anything else. He had to distract Father, or the man would notice Behemoth trying to get Kuki out. He had to distract Father, or the man would shoot the girl he loved. He was afraid though. The guy had a freakin' GUN for cryin' out loud.

Father turned and Kuki squealed with fear. The man had lost his patience, and he was levelling the gun at her. Wally's mind screamed in terror. _Do something you cruddy idiot! MOVE!_

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_**(**__**Five's Turn)**_

Abby grimaced a bit as they entered the grounds of the Delightful Mansion. She hated this place. Way to prim and proper for her tastes. She gripped her weapon, an object that slightly resembled a hair-dryer with a chilly pepper in a glass case on it's top (writer doesn't know, or remember the name of this weapon. Anyone who does feel free to tell her so she can get it right in future fanfictions) and looked over at Numbuh One. The leader of their team was watching the yard critically.

After a few moments they spread out, crossing the yard stealthily and being careful to shoot at any traps they set off. Once their backs were pressed to the wall of the mansion they glanced at each other. Numbuh One whispered, "Alright, on the count of three we take the door down, one...two..."

"Hey Numbuh One..." Numbuh Two said, making both Abby and the said team leader glare at the pilot. The boy blanched under the look and he glared a little defensively at them, "I was just going to point out that there was a window that's already been broken over there, we could probably get in through there a lot easier and quieter than busting a door down."

Abby felt badly for glaring at the kid, and shot a glance at Numbuh One. To be honest she could have kissed the kid at the moment for figuring that out. The element of surprise was something crucial while getting back her friend. Yet she couldn't help but wonder why the window was broken either...

"Why is it broken?" Abby wanted, very much so, to kick the person who had spoken right in the teeth at the moment. She glared angrily at Numbuh Eighty-six, who returned it with a look that held an equal amount of irritation and loathing to match Abby's own. The Irish girl added with a not-so-quiet whisper, "I was just askin' Numbuh Five. No need to get testy."

"Testy?" Numbuh Five hissed. She had never realized how much she valued Numbuh Four until this moment. The kid was like a little brother to her, and about thirty-eight times better at being quiet (which is really saying something, as the kid is usually an idiot in most situations) when going into a sneak attack. Then again, if there was anything Numbuh Four knew it was how to deal with fighting. "Numbuh Five is about to get testy all over your butt if you don' pipe down!"

"W-" Numbuh Two's hand slammed against the Irish girls mouth. He placed a finger to his lips and shushed her a little angrily. Kudos to him, even Abby wouldn't have done that. For a moment Numbuh Eighty-six teetered between following this irritating order and blowing the entire mission by screaming. After awhile Numbuh Two released her, the girl hissed between her teeth at him, "Numbuh Two, might I remind you that I am higher on the chain of command-"

"Might I remind YOU that we are in the middle of a mission?" Numbuh One snapped irritably, Abby actually felt a little bad for the girl because of the way she looked away. Numbuh One kicked the rest of the glass down, somehow managing to do it quietly. He jumped inside, Numbuh Eighty-six followed him, and so did Numbuh Two. Abby climbed on the ledge and actually slipped. SLIPPED! HER!

She almost hit the ground, if it hadn't been for Numbuh Two she would have gotten a face full of glass. As it was, the boy caught her by the shoulders almost gently, and pulled her to her feet. Abby was glad for her dark skin, she was blushing furiously with embarassment and surprise at the situation. Numbuh Two laughed a little nervously, "Sorry..." He whispered, she glanced at him confused. What was there to be sorry for? He'd just saved her from messing up the entire mission and probably getting pretty hurt to.

"No, it was Numbuh Five's fault. Thanks Numbuh Two." She said, giving him a geniune smile. The boy seemed a little startled by this, and she glanced curiously at him. _Ooookaaay..._

"Come on you two." Numbuh One said, something like faint amusement lacing his tone. That was slightly confusing, Abby grunted something that even she couldn't understand in reply and headed for the first open hallway. As they rounded the corner Numbuh Eighty-six squealed with surprise, cutting off the sound with her own hands as she wrapped them both around her mouth.

There were dogs, about twelve of them. Big dogs. With LOTS of teeth. Abby aimed her weapon at them and fired some strange green mystery ray at them. It hit one in the shoulder and it yelped with surprise. Her friends followed suit, Numbuh One didn't even have to call them to action this time. Soon the last dog was yelping away with it's stump of a tail held tightly to it's rear.

"I guess we can say, Dog-GONE! Haha!" Numbuh Two said, not very loudly but still enough to make Abby smack herself with the wall nearest her head. "What!? I thought it was funny..."

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Kids Next Door." The monotone voice that sounded behind them made every single one of her friends tense up. Slowly they turned around to find the Delightful's standing at the end of the hallway, holding a radio. Abby grit her teeth. They'd been caught. So much for the element of surprise. The five children laughed evilly and pressed a button on the wall. The ground started to rumble ominously...

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_**(Wally)**_

Everyone in the room jumped when a crackling sound split the air. At first Wally thought the gun had been fired with some kind of muffling thing against the noise. (Which actually exists Wally, nice thinking but no...) It was, however, the radio that Father had been holding in his other hand. Something Wally had been too distracted to notice at first. "We've found the other intruders Father."

"Good..." Father said with a grin, "Bring them here, after you detain them. Do not fail me children, this is something they have to see."

A few moments later, much too soon for the top operatives Wally knew so well, the door burst open at the end of the hall. He had been wrong though, his friends were all locked up in a cage. It had wheels, which is how the Delightful's had dragged them in there. They stopped near the very edge of the water.

"My friends! HIIII FRIENDS!" Kuki yelled, perhaps forgetting the tension in the room at the moment of spotting those familiar faces. Behemoth growled something low under his breath at that.

Numbuh Five whistled a low whistle, "Wow, Numbuh Five knew you were crazy but this is ridiculous!" She was clearly stumped by the water that filled up most of the room they were in. "You'd think a guy that started on fire wouldn't fill a room with WATER..."

"Yeah, WATER-you thinkin'! HA! Get it, WATER you thinkin' and there's water..." Numbuh Two said, Numbuh Five smacked him with her hat. It was, strangely enough, Numbuh Eighty-six who noticed the man had a lethal weapon first. She pointed with her mouth slack-jawed, the three of Wally's friends regarded her with looks of curiousity before she yelled.

"Oh my God, he's got a gun!" Wally's friends turned and stared in shock. Wally could see this registering, the fact that this wasn't one of the weapons usually used against them. Not those pistols that shot out ice-cream, or even one with lollipops (that could really HURT when it hit you...) a real gun.

"You crazy!" Numbuh Five yelled, this was done in a different tone of voice. One of worry, "If you shoot any of us you'll get in trouble! You'll..."

"Do you think I care!?" The man roared, turning and slamming the butt of the gun against the chair Kuki was sitting in. She jerked against the ropes in surprise and Wally hissed in fury. "I don't care anymore! I'll get rid of you brats, this time for good! But first I'm going to make the whelp that decided it would be fun to dig his claws in my face PAY!"

"NO!" Wally yelled as the man pressed the barrel of the gun to Kuki's head. The girl was trembling with utter terror now. Wally's heart pounded in his ears. _I can't move...I...I don't want to die..._

_But..._

"Say goodbye!" Father screamed maniacally. The old woman behind him cowered against the floor, sobbing with fear. Even the Delightful Children were watching the scene in wide-eyed horror.

_If Kuki dies..._

"Let us out!" Numbuh One yelled at the Delightful children, "Let us out or our friend is going to be killed!"

_If...she dies..._

"Say goodbye to your pretty little girlfriend!" Father cackled insanely.

_It will...kill me anyways._

Wally hurled himself at the man, his fangs dug deep into the hand that was holding the gun. His body slammed painfully against the barrel. Father jerked back with surprise, yelling and shaking his hand. Wally's claws slid against the metal of the gun, and he lost his purchase. He was sent soaring in the air, and before he struck the ground a sound like thunder tore through the room. Numbuh Eighty-six screamed in terror, and pain exploded in Wally's shoulder.

_**

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**_

_**(Behemoth)**_

Behemoth watched in utter horror as his friend thudded to the ground. For a moment the thought he was dead, then the little tabby staggered to his paws. Hope soared for an instant in Behemoth's chest, until he noticed the blood rapidly pouring from Wally's side. The little cat stared at it numbly for a moment, then his back paws slid off the concrete slab into the water. The rest of Wally soon followed, his eyes rolling back in his head as he passed out.

Or died.

Behemoth wasn't sure, but if his friend wasn't dead yet he would drown. Behemoth yowled with fury and launched himself after the man. The evil monster spotted him, and kicked him so hard that Behemoth heard his ribs crack. Agony spread down his side and he slid to a stop at the Kuki girl's feet. "TIGER! TIGER!"

Behemoth gasped painfully, "Wally...oh Wally..."

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Acacia)**_

Acacia's heart leaped in her throat. Would it work? Would it matter if it worked if he was in the water and couldn't swim? Acacia hissed in frustration and gathered her haunches. No way to tell where the water was but...well, she had to didn't she? The silver she-cat plummeted down. She could guess what had happened by the sound of the gun, the splash of the water. Wallabee had been shot, she was sure of it. The stench of blood seemed to hang in the air.

She was shocked by the impact of water. Acacia floundered in the water until her muzzle somehow found it's way to the surface. Now for the hard part. One couldn't smell for others under water, how would she find Wally.

Inspiration. She opened her muzzle and lapped at the water until the coppery taste of blood coated her tongue. Joy spread through her and she dove down. _I'm coming kid, just hold on._

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Wally)**_

In case you were wondering, getting shot HURTS. Very badly. It felt like something was burning it's way through his shoulder, embedding itself there. He would have been instantly killed if he had still been holding onto the gun when he was shot, but he had been in the air. The bullet tore it's way through his body but didn't kill him...yet...

Wally was sinking deeper in the water. Had he failed? Hopefully he bought enough time for Kuki. He could hope that. He was going to die though, right? There was no way he couldn't now, sinking ever deeper into the water. His lungs burned for air, what was the point in holding his breath? Because Kuki was still in danger?

Wally struggled to churn at the water, how had Behemoth done that? Teeth met his scruff, and he was being hauled to the surface. Not fast enough, some part of him was saying. The world spun, and it all went very dark. Black.

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Acacia)**_

Wally fell completely limp. Panic gripped her, she could taste it, sense it in him. The boy had died. He was gone. Her heart thudded with sadness, but some part of her continued hauling him to the surface. She had to, at least bring him up. Even if he was starting to get really heavy...

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Wally, yes, Wally, are you sitting there going WHAT!? I's confused he's DEAD!)**_

Everything HURT. Yeah, how lucky for him. Wally opened his eyes and everything was painfully bright. Everything. The tom shook his head, and looked around. Oh yeah, he was still a cat too. So was he dead? Confusion swamped him. He certainly didn't feel dead, he hurt just as badly now as he had a moment ago. Suddenly he felt a soft muzzle pressing his side, Wally jumped away and stared in shock.

It was him...or...not him. It was a cat that LOOKED like him, but it couldn't quite be him because it was very gentle. Very shy too, from the way he flinched away from him. "I-I'm sorry, I'm just healing you Wallabee."

"Who are ya!?" Wally blanched.

"Part of you're gift of course." The cat said in surprise, "Didn't you realize that you got one? I'm a part of you Wallabee, a part of your soul. Kindness. I'm not that brave, but I really like helping people y'know? I don't need to be too brave though, since the rest of your personality makes up for it."

"Ah'm...very confused..." Wally meowed.

"Yeah, intelligence isn't very strong among us. I don't even think he counts as a life. I'll still be with you of course, you can't get rid of us. You see...hundreds of years ago cats figured out how to work a very deep magic. It was a magic that has since died, but it has been resurrected within you. The magic of life."

_"I give you the gift of life..."_ Acacia had said.

"Ummm..." Wally meowed, staring at the cat, "So what you're sayin' is tha' Ah've got a loife? Doesn't everybody?"

"No, haven't you heard the old wives-tale Wallabee?" Kindness meowed softly, "The magic that these cats discovered was the ability to tap into their souls. They sought out the strongest parts of the soul, and gave them the knowledge of life. The chance to actually feel as individual beings. In a sense, you're soul is now made up of other souls that can think and feel too. There are nine of us in all..."

"Noine..." Wally meowed softly.

"Yes. You have nine lives Wallabee Beetles." Kindness grinned, "Well, eight now, but you get the picture. I think you've been healed enough now. Don't worry, you won't loose the parts of your soul if you loose a life. They just...won't have the power to heal you again. I don't think we'll ever be able to talk Wallabee, but remember that I am with you."

"Blech." Wally said, but he actually felt a little relieved. And still incredibly confused. Suddenly the ground vanished from under him, his body ached even MORE than before. It was a familiar ache actually though...

_**

* * *

**_

_**Dun, dun, duuun! Cliff-hanger! That's right!**_

_**Lawl. Hope you guys didn't get too confused.**_

_**That's right, I couldn't kill Wally either. I'd have an easier time killing Behemoth...**_

_**Soooo...**_

_**Yeah...**_

_**Hope you guys are on the edge of your seats! :3**_

**_Totally forgot about Numbuh Eighty-six for awhile there...sorry Fanny -cuddles-_**


	11. Save The Day

_Disclaimer;_

_Can't you guess what I would say now? No stealing my stuff, I'm not stealing this stuff, just using it for my own amusement. _

_**Holy cats it's chapter eleven!**_

_**Are you excited?**_

_**I totally am :3**_

_**I think this is my craziest chapter yet. I even made up a word or two. XD**_

_**sstoons3425- Ooo, I suprised you! :3 Yeah, the gun was supposed to be a Taser at first but then I was like NOOOO a gun would be much SCARIER in that situation. -cackles evilly while Sector V begins backing slowly away-**_

_**imasmurf93- -grins evilly- Here's the rest for you to not be on the edge of your seat anymore. Two updates again so...have fun with em'...glad that amused you. XP I just randomly say things that like popping in my head sometimes...**_

_**Laurie43- -hands next chapters with grin- Hope this is exciting for you...**_

_**Lawl! That was totally all my original reviewers! Thanks guys, for sticking with me since chapter one! ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER AND THE BEGINNING OF THE CONCLUSION OF THIS FANFICTION!**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Eleven- Save the Day_

Kuki's tears flooded down her face. Poor Tiger, he had only tried to help her. Such a brave kitty. Father was scowling at the water, laughing evilly and talking to it. What a creep. Kuki felt very angry. Very scared. Helpless, she was probably going to die here. The kitty that Father had kicked was staggering to his paws and standing in front of her. It was strange, seeing an animal look so defiant and heroic.

"Stupid beast." Father hissed, kicking the cat again. The tom slid to the edge of the slab with a yowl of pain. Kuki's heart twisted for the poor animal. "Now, I would have liked for that brat to watch you suffer but I suppose I can't always win. Adios..."

That's when the pool started trembling. Little tremors, causing ripples on the calm surface. Suddenly a little silver cat's head bobbed to the surface of the water, she was soaked through but her eyes...Kuki could have sworn they were stretched wide with surprise. The next instant a hand was gripping the concrete slab, and Kuki's heart soared with relief and joy.

"Ya bettah let her go or Ah'll beat the crud outta ya!"

_**

* * *

**_

_**(Wally)**_

He had never been so angry in his entire life. Never before, and it was lucky for him (and Acacia) that the moment he changed into a human again was when his hand touched the concrete slab Kuki was on...not that he noticed this. Acacia certainly did though, but you have to forgive Wally he's a tad slow.

"What, impossible!" Father said, Wally stood up with a grin that could almost be called evil. Still, he probably wouldn't have even noticed (he was on his hands and knees actually) that he was back to normal, if it hadn't been for Kuki's excited little squeal.

"WALLY!" She yelled, doing a little bouncing motion...erm, well, bouncing as best as she possibly could while tied up that is. Wally stared at her in shock, then looked down at himself.

"ALROIGHT!" Wally yelled, pumping his fist in the air, "DEHNENENEH! BACK TO NORMAL! DEHNENENEH! NOT A-" (The writer had to throw in Wally's little victory dance thing at least ONCE I mean COME ON it's so amusing...)

He stopped suddenly, a little mischevious grin lighting up his entire face. He turned and cracked his knuckles. (Uh, Wally-Dear he still has a gun you know...) "Well, well, well, you figured out how to break the curse then."

"Yup." Wally said, while the rest of his friends blanched at him.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Numbuh Five yelled, "Numbuh Five has been losin' her head over you! Numbuh Three, Numbuh Two, and Numbuh One too!"

"Yeah dude!" (Is everyone forgetting about the gun here?) Numbuh Two yelled at him. Wally flinched, "Why did you do that to us, why did you make us worry that entire time?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do!" Numbuh One said, in a way that reminded Wally of an adult. Sometimes his friend could be WAAAAY too strict. (Riiight, seriously, nobody remembering the lethal weapon thing that the bad-guy is holding?)

"Well, ya see..." Wally chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. That's around the time that Numbuh Eighty-six (Everybody give this observant little cookie a hug now) decided to point out the problem that everyone had been avoiding up until this point.

"Heeelloooo! Ya idiots he's still got a gun!" She screamed, Wally spun around to see Father looking at them the way that...well, the way that somebody looks at someone who has just done something so stupid that it's a little startling. This, luckily enough for everybody in the room, provided a sufficient amount of distracting...distractingness for Wallabee Beetles to leap into action.

Wally jumped so that he was on the back of Kuki's chair. Father twisted around so that his gun was aimed at the boy and Wally jumped AGAIN. This time launching himself high into the air and over the man's head. Wally landed on his shoulders, grabbed Father's hand that held the gun and twisted it around at an awkward angle behind the man's back. Resounding cheers started up in the direction of the cage.

"Let go of me...now..." Father choked out, clearly humiliated at the moment. (That WOULD be rather embarassing...) The fact that Wally had decided to pass out and fall in the water was working towards the boy's advantage now. Father couldn't get his flames going since Wally was soaked.

"Pleasure." Wally grunted, and he kicked the man hard in the back while still holding onto the gun. The man's arm was torn from his socket, and Father fell down with a choking sound. (He wouldn't scream to save his life you know...) The gun fell helplessly to the ground, and Wally couldn't help but stick his tongue out at him. "Ya loose, suckah!"

"I...NEVER LOOSE!" Father roared, Wally yelped a bit as the man grabbed him by the ankle. "If I go down, you're going down-"

Suddenly a chair, which seemed to come completely out of nowhere for Wally, struck the evil man hard in the back of the head. Wally turned amazed green eyes on...Kuki. She giggled a little nervously, and rubbed Behemoth against her cheek, "Sorry Numbuh Four, I wanted to hit him for hurting Tiger..."

"Erm...uh..." Wally grinned a little stupidly at her for a moment. "How'd ya get out?"

"Big kitty helped me! Isn't that right big kitty!?" Kuki cooed, then her eyes flooded with tears as she looked into the water, "Poor Tiger...D-do you think he's okay Numbuh Four?"

"Uh...well...eheh..." To be honest Wally had no idea where to even START explaining this one. He was saved having to to, the floor pitched violently under them and Wally had to suddenly wrap his arms around Kuki's waist to keep her from plunging into the water. Erm...well, that was a little uneffective since he now would fall in WITH her. That would have been the case, had it not been for the old hag lady grabbing Wally's hood and holding onto the edge of the slab for dear life.

"In here!" Numbuh One yelled, Wally blinked in amazement, his friends had gotten out of the cage somehow! The boat slid up to the bottom of the slab, which was now somehow at a ninety-degree angle. Acacia jumped down and very nearly landed in the water, would have if it wasn't for Numbuh Five suddenly catching her.

"Hurry guys!" Hoagie yelled, Wally looked up at the woman who let him go. He landed in the boat (On his feet too! GO WALLY!) and buried his face in Kuki's green jumpsuit as a huge wave suddenly picked their boat up. They were hurled out of the door (Thanks to some pretty awesome boat manuevering by their team pilot) and the water propelled them through the house.

"We're gonna crash!" Numbuh Eighty-six wailed. Numbuh Four just held Kuki a little tighter until...

They burst out the front door. The wave carried them all the way over the fence where the boat landed with a heavy thud on the other side. For a moment all of the kids just stared at each other in bewilderment. Then the cheering started and Wally couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. " 'Ah can't believe it!" Wally said with a smile.

He suddenly realized the entire team had stopped cheering. Wally tipped his head to the side in confusion (Awww, how cute, still acting like a kitty cat...) as they all started to giggle. It wasn't until he realized he was still hugging Kuki that his face suddenly turned bright pink. He let go of her hastily.

"Awww, in't that cute?" Numbuh Five said, Wally glared at her and shot an embarassed look at Kuki...who was crying. Wally blinked in surprise.

"Erm...Ah'm sorry for huggin' ya for so long..." Wally said, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. Sheesh, he didn't think he was THAT bad! "N-Numbuh Three? Kuki?"

"It's not that..." Kuki sobbed, "It's Tiger! Now he's gone and it's all my f-fault..."

"N-no, don't cry! Ah'm sure he got out!" Wally coaxed nervously, feeling a little reluctant to tell his friends about the small misadventure he had. He didn't want to make Kuki mad, which was a likely turn-out if he said anything, "Oi! Cheer up! If he's strong enough ta take Father on then he'll be okay!"

"Y-you reaaaallly think so?" Kuki said, turning her eyes up to him. Wally felt his stomach twist a little nervously and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah...o' course..." Wally grinned a little lopsidedly at her and Kuki squealed with joy. She wrapped her arms around him, and that laugh...well, Wally couldn't exactly call it annoying now could he? He was surprised by how much he liked to hear that. " 'Ey! Watch it!"

"Come on you two lovebirds." Numbuh One said, a look of amusement on your face, "As much as we fight adult tyranny we should STILL let Numbuh Four's parents know he's okay. Right?"

"Lovebirds!?" Wally said with a blush, he would have shoved Kuki away...if it hadn't been for the way that Behemoth smacked him hard on the head with his paw. The brown tabby snickered at him, and then jumped down off of Numbuh Eighty-six's head. (Which was where he had been sitting) With a twitch of his tail he took off. " 'EY! BEHEMOTH!"

"Is that his naaaame?" Kuki sang, squeezing Wally a little tighter. Which...really made it kind of hard to breathe. Acacia followed after Behemoth, limping a little bit. Wally's heart twisted.

"Guys!" Wally yelled, but the two cats had vanished.

_**

* * *

**_

Wally gulped a little nervously. His parents were NOT going to be very happy with him. His friends were sitting idly on the sidewalk. Kuki waved at him cheerfully from her vantage point. Easy for her to do, she didn't have to face...the adults. Wally shuddered a bit, and opened the door.

"Mum...?" Wally said, that was all it took. He was suddenly in the air and being held to his mother's side. She was crying with relief, and calling for Wally's dad. "M-Mum! Hey! Can't...breathe..."

"Wallabee! Oh, Ah've been so worried about you!" She said, hugging him gently. His father rounded the corner just as his mother's relief turned into fury, "WHERE 'AVE YOU BEEN!?" (That's what Numbuh Five asked too...)

"Ah..." Wally heaved a tired sigh, "Ah...ran away from home..."

It was the story he had decided to come up with, it had satisfied his friends too. Wally just didn't think he'd get away with...well, a story about how he turned into a cat. His mother gaped at him for a moment (as Wally often didn't take the honest route first) then she set him down and ran to the phone. Probably to tell everyone to stop looking for her son, who was indeed safe.

"Wally, usually we're a little lax with ya but...well son Ah don't see any way around this one..." Wally's dad said softly, laying his hand on his son's head. "You'll have to be grounded..."

"Yeah..." Wally sighed, and waited for how long it would be that he wouldn't get to see his friends. That was embarassing, being a Kids Next Door operative who was...grounded.

"For one day..." his father said. Wally looked up in surprise and the man shuffled his feet in embarassment, "Well...ta be honest with ya son Ah don' much loike groundings...an' Ah think it was mostly mah fault. Forcin' ya to help that lady when ya knew she was so mean. Ah should have listened to ya..."

"No, Dad..." Wally said, but his father walked off. Wally couldn't help but be happy. He ran to his room and shut the door. Good to be back, good to only be grounded for one day. (Because he was thinking something more along the lines of a KAJILLION years) Maybe his parents were too lenient but he didn't care. He was perfectly happy with it.

_**

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**_

_**End of the chapter. Just one more to go. Well...it'll be more of an epilogue really, leading up to the plot of the second one that's coming after this. Stay tuned :D**_

_**I've come up with an idea for the second one though, and I'm SOOO excited about it! XP**_

_**Probably start writing it right after this one is done. **_

_**Be on the look out for it! :3**_


	12. Epilogue

_Disclaimer;_

_I don't anything but the stuff that isn't in any KND episodes. HUZZAH!_

_**-sniffs- The very last one. I can't believe this! **_

_**It's been great you guys! I've had a TON of fun writing this, and I hope you'll tune in for the next adventure Wally has with me! **_

_**

* * *

**_

_Epilogue_

**1 Month Later...**

Wally grimaced as he sat up and looked around himself. He'd fallen out of bed...again. The young Australian heaved a sigh, and inspected his shoulder. Sure enough there was a rather purple bruise growing there. A full-blown scowl made it's way acrossed his features.

"You're subconcious is trying to get you to see your girlfriend, I think." The amused purr startled the boy, and he looked around in surprise. There! On the windowsill!

"Behemoth!" Wally said happily, "Wait...Ah can understand ya!?"

"Mmmm, guess so." Behemoth purred, hoping down and padding to his side. He bumped his head cautiously against Wally's outstretched fingers. Wally smiled and gently patted him on the head, "I'm glad, it'd be rather boring visiting you if you couldn't understand a word I was saying you know."

Wally grinned, then found himself looking at the cat reproachfully. Behemoth had left the night he'd gotten Kuki away from Father. He hadn't returned, not even to say goodbye. Wally wasn't much for emotion, but he couldn't lie and say that that hadn't hurt his feelings. Behemoth was one of his best friends..."Whoy did ya leave?"

"Oh..." Behemoth looked away, "I...well, I don't care for humans much. So I didn't think...I'd be able to...you know...trust...your friends."

Wally winced a bit, then looked down at him in disbelief, "Well...Ah don' think Numbuh Three would hurt ya ever, Numbuh One's kinda bossy but...and Numbuh Two LOIKES cats! Numbuh Five loikes em' too...they loiked Tiger foine anyways." Behemoth nodded his head and looked awkwardly away.

"So...well, that's not the only reason." The big tabby scuffed his paw guiltily on the ground, but a small smile (Ever since he had been changed into a cat Wally noticed that animals have facial expressions too) crossed his muzzle. The tom grinned suddenly, "Well I had to help Acacia out, she had to get some cat to replace her you know..."

"Replace her? Whoy!?" Wally said, worried that something had happened to his other friend. (The writer is now cuddling Wally along with Kuki for this) The silver she-cat, as if summoned by her mere thought, suddenly landed gracefully on his lap. She rubbed her head against Wally's chin and purred.

"We're coming to stay here with you, Wallabee. To watch out for you." Acacia smiled gently at him. "Besides, the street is a dangerous place for kittens."

"Whoy are ya so fat!" Wally said bluntly, Behemoth responded to this by smacking the boy with his paw. "OW! What'd Ah' say!?"

"WALLLLLLYYYY!" Kuki poked her head in through the doorway, "Are you talking to yourself- HEY! KITTIES!" The girl hopped over to him and hugged Wally tightly. "They're so ADORABLE! Heeeey! That's the big kitty TIGER was friends with! Awwww, and that's his GIRLFRIEND!"

"Erm...yeah..." Wally laughed a little nervously, "Kooks this is Acacia, and that's Behemoth."

Behemoth stuck his paw out for Kuki to shake, which she clearly thought was completely adorable as she fell over talking about how utterly cute that was. Behemoth watched her with a look of confusion on his muzzle before turning to face Wally with a look of accusation. This look was followed by a...well, a narrowed eyed thing from Acacia. (Can you call it a look when she's blind?)

"What!?" Wally whispered to them.

"You didn't tell her you love her, did you." Both cat's meowed at the same time. Wally's face turned bright red, and he glanced away. No he hadn't. He was having trouble with that bit to be completely honest. Acacia heaved a tired sigh.

"Tell her. Now." Behemoth meowed, pointing sternly at the laughing girl with his tail.

"You can't rush him Behemoth." Acacia chided gently, "These things happen at their own pace. Though I'd rather he do it sooner than later, it'll bite you in the tail if you put it off for too long. She has such vibrant energy Wallabee, I wouldn't be surprised if other males fancied her."

"So what are they doing here!?" Kuki asked, leaning over Wally's shoulder to rub Acacia's head gently. The she-cat purred, "She's going to have babies isn't she!? Awwww!"

"Well...uh...ya see..." Wally rubbed his head and searched for some kind of answer, "Well...Behemoth is mah cat but...well...Ah was wonderin' if ya'd loike ta have Acacia for yourself...ACK!"

The 'ack' happened because Kuki suddenly tightened her hug around him. Her eyes shone with complete happiness and she smiled. Wally's face heated up and he found himself suddenly very engrossed in the designs of his tennis shoes. "That's the sweetest most wonderful thing you've EVER done Wally! You're giving me a kitty cat as a present! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!"

Did he really have to ask? "So yeah loike her?" Wally said with a small chuckle of amusement.

"Like her!? I LOVE her!" She hugged Wally even tighter, which was making it hard for the poor kid to breathe. Wally thought he was going to die any second, except that Numbuh Two decided now would be a good time to visit his old pal Wallabee. The young boy snorted with laughter and Kuki turned an oblivious smile in his direction, "Hiiiii Numbuh Two!"

With her greeting to Numbuh Two she released her hug-of-death on Wally and scooped Acacia gently into her arms. She danced over to Numbuh Two, with Acacia clinging to her for dear life. "Hehehe, what're you two up to in here? Heeey, what's that?"

Wally's portly friend had discovered the two cat's in the room. Kuki beamed at him with joy, "Wally gave her to me! Isn't that just the SWEETEST!? She's HIS kitties girlfriend! They're having BABIES! Soon there will be cute little baaaaby kitties running around!" Kuki smiled and nuzzled Acacia on the head.

"In't that just precious." Numbuh Five was there too, and Wally was suddenly feeling quite warm under the amused looks of his two friends. He decided that his shoes weren't so interesting anymore and started to check out the ceiling. What a lovely shade of brown that ceiling was too...

"Numbuh Four, did you even think to ask me if it was okay to take two cats in? Not just two cats but one that...is..." Numbuh One's stern voice died because Numbuh Three was giving him a look that was often reserved for her REALLY angry moments. That look that made it seem as if there was fire in her eyes, and that her teeth were suddenly jagged... "Right, uhehehehe, you can...keep the cats of course...hey...is it...blind?"

"Really? Poor Acacia..." Kuki said, cuddling her, "I don't care if you're blind, you can still live with us."

"She can get aroun' quoite foine..." Wally said, boasting for his friend. Really, Acacia's blindness wasn't so much of a curse. She was one of the smartest...cats...people things he knew!

"Welp! I'm going to show her her new home! I'll make a nice bed for her in my room and she can sleep RIGHT by my head..." Kuki walked away chatting about a mile-a-minute. Wally's remaining friends grinned at him knowingly before following the girl out. After a few moments it was just Behemoth and Wally standing in the doorway.

"Well, I guess we'll be comfortable here. It's nice to know that I won't have to worry about feeding my family." Behemoth purred softly and glanced at Wally sternly, "Don't forget what we said Wally. The longer you wait to tell her, the bigger the chance becomes that she'll find somebody else."

_**

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**_

_**First of all I'd like to...beg you guys not to kill me.**_

_**I know Wally didn't tell her! ACK! **_

_**He was totally going to too...**_

_**Except...**_

_**I had a flash of inspiration, which is going to create our sequel. Hope you guys aren't ready to grind my bones and such, go and read that...**_

_**So...**_

_**The end! That's it! It's over! **_

_**-cries a little bit-**_

_**I had so much fun writing this! I totally plan on writing a sequel, so keep an eye out for it. I've got no idea what I'll call it though! **_

_**It will probably be a bit longer than this one. I don't know, depends on how it all plays out.**_

_**Buuuut...**_

_**I have to special thank you all now!**_

_**First there's Mr. Warburton. Thank you so much sir, for the creation of KND. I adore the show, and though you'll probably never get to see this, I love the way it has inspired me. **_

_**To ALL my reviewers! Thank you so much all of you guys! I totally couldn't have done it without you, you're bright inputs and comments about the story kept me going! Especially you guys who stuck with it since the very beginning. -points- You know who you are...**_

_**Thanks to Wally who put up with me. :3**_

_**and finally thank YOU dear reader, for stickin' around tell the end of the story. Much appreciated.**_

_**Reviews are still welcome to anybody who floats in after this is all finished!**_

_**RANDOM FACTS ABOUT THIS FANFICTION;;**_

_**Easiest person to keep in character; Behemoth. What can I say he's MINE so...yeah...**_

_**Hardest person to keep in character; Numbuh One, and Father probably. I kept deleting their sentences and banging my head on my computer going "Nyuuuuh that isn't what they'd SAY!"**_

_**Numbuh Eighty-six was hard at first, but once I got into it her character came pretty easily.**_

_**Thank you, and goodnight! -bows-**_


End file.
